Volunteering with My Volunteers

Last week I had two large Back to School Fairs that I helped and partnered with. Our first event was on Thursday at the University of St. Francis. I was part of the planning committee and represented the Center and Uniting America.  The back to school fair on Thursday was crazy. Myself, along with 2 of my volunteers arrived at 10am to be there on time and help set-up things. The moment we got there we already saw a long line of families waiting to get into the fair. The event offered, free school supplies, discounted physicals and shots, free dental screenings and lots of information from numerous organizations in the area.

The volunteers from Uniting America were all there to help with translating for the numerous services that were being provided. I also volunteered myself to help with that and basically running around and assisting with kids’ trivia and raffle prizes. The doors opened at 11am, and from then on it was crazy all day. Tons of families came in and out of the doors of the huge gym. There were lines that reached out the door with people waiting to receive their backpacks full of supplies and their services. We all had a 30min break, but other than that we were busy running around the whole day helping with whatever we could.  There were over 80 volunteers that day we were able to help over 900 families to receive many services. It was a very long day for all of us but I could not have been more grateful for my volunteers and the great work they did all day.

On Saturday the Spanish Community Center had a similar back to school event and open house to publicize our daycare. Even though we have a small staff we all came together to help out. I had 4 volunteers help me with the kids games while the staff and other teachers helped give out free food, clothing, and school supplies to our community. The group of us that helped with the kids games didn’t stop working from the time the doors opened. One after another, kids got in line to play one of our 4 games that we were offering for free. It was really awesome to just have a good time with the children from our community and make the kids smile with the prizes that we won.  We gave away every single prize that we had and played till there wasn’t anything left to hand out. Some kids just came back because they enjoyed the games and didn’t care about prizes.

The best part of both events was working with people that help me out. We were able to help out so many people, and it didn’t cost a dime for anything. Families came out and received things that they needed while their kids could have a good time and enjoy their day.  Both fairs were great successes because of the volunteers and their love for helping others.