Cleaning SFK Up a Bit



I had PLENTY of cleaning supplies
to choose from and use!



I volunteered at Sunflower Kids again today! This time, instead of filing or helping with administrative stuff like I did during my last visit, I worked on cleaning the break room, which serves as both a kitchen and a side entrance to SFK. I cleaned the windows and the door and also wiped down the tables and counters, which actually took far longer than I expected it to since some of the kids had stored their arts and crafts projects in there earlier in the week, which meant that the tables were sufficiently dirty and were covered in dried glue.



I spent a lot of time scrubbing tables
with Lysol wipes (and you can
even see the glue in the background)!

I also had to empty trashcans both in the bathrooms and throughout the building. Then, once I was done with all of my cleaning duties, I helped to haul trash bags (as well as a broken chair, oddly enough) out to the dumpsters in the parking lot. Once I was done with all of this, I was free to go!



One of the most interesting aspects of this particular volunteering experience, however, actually had nothing to do with my cleaning duties. Since I was in the break room most of the time, I was also there when a new round of visitations started. This meant that, right before new visitations began, I had the opportunity to watch one of the SFK employees carry out an exchange between two parents who, presumably, could not do the exchange themselves due to a protection order or other court mandate. Since the break room is also home to SFK’s side entrance, the employee was able to run out and take the child from one parent’s car and bring them into the building, where they were reunited with the other parent.

This was a particularly cool experience to watch not only because it was interesting to see how SFK managed to keep the parents separated, but also because I had wondered about how the exchange process would work since our first informational meeting back in September. While it was sad to think about the possible reasons why the exchange may have had to happen this way, it was certainly interesting to see how these situations are handled because it gave me a far greater insight into how SFK facilitates supervised visitation services in a safe way for both the children and the parents.



Overall, I had an informative and interesting time at Sunflower Kids, as per usual! Even though my official duties only involved cleaning tables and emptying trashcans, I feel like I learned a lot by simply observing what went on within the building. I’m excited to go back for my final volunteering session later this week, and I’m definitely grateful for the time I’ve spent at Sunflower Kids!