Day of Caring 2009 ...

Today is United Way's Day of Caring 2009.
To put it in their words, "Day of Caring is a one day initiative that connects volunteers with non-profit agencies in need of assistance. It is the best and most organized way for individuals to make a difference in their community. The volunteers get a first hand opportunity to learn about health and human services needs where they live. The service day will enhance team spirit and employee morale. It offers a greater understanding of how commitment of time and money work together to make a difference in a community."

Volunteers from our firm (myself included) were matched with the Women's and Children's Clinic affiliated with our local LSU Health Sciences Center, where we read to children and labeled books that had been donated. The children were mostly toddlers, waiting with their parents or grandparents in the Well Room for medical check-ups or immunizations. It was a lot of fun and the kids were excited to see us. Some were shy at first but as we all warmed to each other they became very animated, pointing out characters on the pages, choosing favorite books from the basket, and making comments when certain story parts were read. One book by Eric A. Kimmel, I Took My Frog to the Library, brought cries of Ewwwww! when we got to the page where illustrator Blanche Sims portrays a pet python shedding his skin all over the library books!

One of my personal favorites, The Cantaloupe Cat, written by Jan Yager and illustrated by Mitzi Lyman, enchanted a darling little girl who whispered answers to my questions about Jerry (the cat who ate cantaloupe!) About 30 minutes later that same little girl had come out of her shell and was "reading" a book to me about Dora the Explorer - so dear!


The clinic's Program Director and our team members voiced hopes before we went into the Well Room that this day of service might encourage parents to read often to their children, seeing how much the kids enjoyed it, and that it would surely help to advance vocabulary, learning, and communication skills in these precious young ones. Here is part of our team (me, Nancy, Candace, and Marie) later in the day back at work as we tried to take time out of a hectic Friday afternoon to round everyone up for a photo op. Unfortunately, the others (Jeannie, Bill, and Lisa) were not able to join us at that time. Still, everyone on the team agreed that we were very glad
we participated in this year's Day of Caring event.