Our groups combined to be in one site. When we weren't doing a "day camp" for the shelter kids who stayed there for the day, there was still plenty to do. Here are some highlights:
Monday: We went through an orientation, cleaned clothes closets, towel closet, and book shelves/toys. We also planned for the week's activities with the kids since they weren't there this day.
Tuesday: We organized the diapers for the shelter. They explained to us that they can never keep enough certain sized diapers stocked....always running out. We also sorted through the pantry room and checked every date on every can! We played with the kids today too!
Wednesday: Some of us organized 3,999 videos for them! (ask about Bill's reaction :) ) The boys pulled weeds, mowed, and organized the shed. We did a scavenger hunt with the kids at the day camp and also painted with the kids. Muriel, Emily, Ella, Crista, and Karen went to Nifty Thrifty and helped tag, label, and sort the clothes.
Our group decided to ask FLY if they would be willing to help with their shortage on diapers and supplies... Within 20 minutes, we had almost $500! (almost $200 from FLY and $300 from anonymous donors through phone calls.) This was going to be an awesome surprise for the shelter!
Thursday: We delivered all of the supplies that we purchased to the shelter. (Thank goodness we had our bus!) We pulled the rest of the weeds. We made kites with the kids. Karen, Emily Ella, and Trevor went back to Nifty Thrifty to work more and the rest of the group stayed and went to the park with the kids. It was a VERY emotional good-bye when the kids left. Mitchell, Carson, and Skylar were especially touched when the kids were leaving. They were all very attached to the kids and the kids were very torn up when they had to say goodbye.
Our God Sightings:
When we are about to leave the shelter one day, Bill gave a little boy from the shelter a toy firetruck, His eyes lit up and he was so grateful for the little toy. The next day the little boy had the toy tightly in his hand all day.
We had no real extra time or any plans on how we were going to get the diapers and supplies with the donation money. But God was looking down on us and we were lucky enough to find a ride from a church helper with a truck. We were able to get an abundance of money in such a short amount of time. When Karen, Muriel, and Emily went to Cosco to purchase it all, the cashier was so touched by what we were doing and told us that we need more people in the world like us. It was just another example of God using ordinary people to do extra-ordinary things. :)
Another God moment was when Karen's group was not able to work at their original sight so they joined with Bill's. We now had 12 people volunteering at the Shelter, which was way more than what we needed. BUT we were able to get sooo much work done for the shelter and everyone was so grateful for the work we were doing. The boys helped out with the work in the yard and when they were finished, the maintenance lady hugged them and thanked them for what they all did. She said she had been so overwhelmed with all of HER work lately and that the boys just did a week's worth of work for her in about two hours. God moment!
It was our last day at the shelter and it was time for us to say our good-byes. Some of the girls did more cleaning than being with the kids. But the boys all got very attached to them. It was time for the three siblings to go home and the two girls were overwhelmed.... one grabbed Mitchell and the other grabbed Carson. The girls hugged them so tightly, not wanting to let go. They girls started to get emotional and we could tell that our boys were starting to get emotional too and didn't want to say their final good-byes. It was a definite God moment. And we could tell their lives were forever changed....a little act of kindness and just spending some time with some kids, and their lives were forever changed.
At the end of the trip, we all got together and talked about how much closer we all got during this trip. With a group the size of our youth group, you can't assume that everyone really knows each other. This is God given time to get to know each other better. We all have more friends now.....
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