Sunflower Kids Volunteering: Round One

On Wednesday, October 21, I was able to go to Sunflower Kids to volunteer for the first time. I was there for two hours and fifteen minutes, and it was a great experience. I was very glad to help out this awesome organization.

                  Sunflower Kids recently had a change in director because the former director moved to a new job. Therefore, the person that we contact to schedule volunteering sessions changed during the middle of the semester. Although many people have experienced problems with this change, for me, everything has still been running smoothly. Carlie Kelly, our new contact person, always emails me back in a timely manner and finds time for me to come volunteer. I think that it is great that even though Sunflower Kids is dealing with these changes and trying to get everything settled in their organization, they are still working with us and allowing us to come volunteer. Sunflower Kids is a great organization that addresses a very relevant issue in our society, domestic violence. I am very glad that I have the opportunity to go volunteer for this organization and learn first-hand how Sunflower Kids helps families that are troubled by domestic violence. I am thankful that even with the change of director, Sunflower Kids still allows me to come volunteer.

                  When I walked in Sunflower Kids, the first thing I noticed was that the place was decorated for Halloween. There were pumpkins, vampires, and witches hanging from the ceiling. Draped around the doors were orange and black streamers, and Halloween stickers were all over the windows. I thought that this was a wonderful thing; having these decorations up makes the children that have to come here feel more at home during their visits. These children that come here have witnessed domestic violence by a parent, and now they have to come to Sunflower Kids to have supervised visitations with that parent. It has to be a scary experience, but I think that even something as small as decorating for Halloween can make the children feel much more comfortable.

Sunflower Kids had decorated for Halloween.

                  While I was volunteering, my responsibility was to clean. I cleaned all four visitation rooms and swept in the lobby area. In my dorm and with my school work, I like to have everything clean and organized, so this was a good task for me. I was excited to help out Sunflower Kids in any way that I could, and I am looking forward to continuing my volunteering experience!

One of the visitation rooms that I cleaned while volunteering at Sunflower Kids.