BGC and Kiwanis: On Garland Popcorn

Thursday, Dec. 13’s volunteer work with the Builder’s Club of Kiwanis at Golden Hill School and Torch Club at the Boys & Girls Club passed into one of those messy, gloppy and wonderful memories of arts and crafts.

You might think arts and crafts wouldn't count as a service project, but the way they engage kids is incredible. One moment Boys & Girls Club member J is bored off his gourd and the next, he’s stringing up popcorn on a string and telling me about the time he donated money to a homeless man.

I volunteer for Torch Club and for Builder’s Club along with Diane, the super woman who can. This lady works nights, volunteers days and enacts random acts of kindness at every moment in between. She got both groups going with popcorn garland projects, cookie baking projects and Christmas decoration projects.

V Tip 005: If you want to be effective and to enjoy your time as a volunteer, connect with someone starry eyed and positive.

J wanted to make a gigantic cookie into the shape of a tree. F wanted to leave flour hand prints everywhere. I'm learning so much from working with these guys, I often forget the most basic of lessons. As messy as things are in the world, we can create something amazing.

Possibly, the best cookies I ever tasted.

Builders Club Collaboration Project

Kiwanis
What? International org. which sets up projects to improve communities.
Who? Involvement can start as early as kindergarten. Please note, adult groups and formation of youth groups have membership fees
Volunteer Process Time: Involvement can happen immediately and without registration depending on the project. Registration can take two weeks.
Website: www.kiwanis.org


V Tip 003: Say yes. A lot. Saying yes leads to unexpected volunteer opportunities.

Here’s one for you: Volunteer work combo packages. The Boys & Girls Club, Kiwanis Club and Golden Hill alternative school collaborated to create a service think tank out of 7th and 8th graders. Once a week, three other volunteers and I meet up with this class for a 45-minute session and discuss how we can serve our community. Using the time we have in class along with some spare time on weekends, we make our plans happen.

We are the Builder’s Club.

Picture the usual series: math class, English, History and so on... Now imagine breaking up the typical school day with snacks, round-table discussions, art projects and field trips. That’s what we do.

Dec. 6th, we worked on making Holiday cards for an elderly home and decorated our own Charlie Brown—sized tree with painted gingerbread men, snowflakes, ducks and whatever else we could come up with. With our group, the messier the project – the better. I lost count of the amount of thanks we received on our way out. One student commented, “I wish we would keep doing this all day.”