A Summer Full of Volunteering

I was worried about volunteering programs and places to send people for the summer.  School is out and so many businesses slow down and don’t have such a need for volunteers during the summer. I am saddened a bit also because many college and high school volunteers become busy and lose interest in helping out during the summer and are not as willing to volunteer.

I attended a meeting with the Hispanic Latino Coalition this week, about a summer program that I will be collaborating with them on.  They are doing a free summer school program for bilingual and low income students in the Joliet area.  There will be over 90 students attending the program ranging from grades Kindergarten to 7th grade.  Every morning they will have normal school and tutoring on math, and reading and other areas they have troubles in. In the afternoon they will be doing activities for the kids that open their eyes to things that would not normally be exposed to or have the advantage to do or see. They have a Career Day that will feature local leaders, like policemen, firefighters, politicians, and athletes.  Other programs they will feature for the kids will be things like a healthy living day, a soccer day, a college day, and numerous field trips to fun places for all the children.

I will be assisting with finding volunteers to help out for anything and everything. Some of these kids are the ones that get left behind in school because they haven’t had English as a first language and have a slower start than most children do. This summer program will be amazing for the children and for anyone who volunteers to help out. I am putting a lot of time into this to help come up with ideas and find great volunteers that will really make differences in these kids’ lives. I have even volunteered some of my own time to help the program on field trips and other events they need ideas or collaborators for.  The program is an amazing idea and is the first time they are doing this in Joliet. This program is going to be something I can work on all summer and hopefully help make it very successful.