I and our youth coordinator arrived at work at 7:30 this Friday morning. Shortly afterward my assistant arrived with her daughter. Rachel is a rising high school senior and is a lead volunteer. She's great. Together, she and Allie (our summer youth coordinator) can handle just about anything.
By the time the next teen volunteer came in I was speaking with the mother of another juvenile offender. She's interested in having her son serve his hours with us but wanted to know more about our programs.
By 9:00 our first community service kid got here. (We'll call him "J".) He's basically a good kid but needs lots of supervision. At 10:00 our second teen juvenile offender came in. Sullen and withdrawn we did our best to make her feel at-ease. She relaxed some but not much. She required a lot of follow-up. Her attitude was as apparent as her hurting heart.
See, many of the kids who come to us have this huge "pseudo-egos". When you get past the tough exterior there is usually a hurting child lurking inside. I strongly suspect this is what is going on with "A". It wasn't long before we started hearing comments from well-meaning customers about her home life. Almost every one who saw her and knew her viewed her time here as possibly being a rare positive moment in her life.
We talked about plans for the future. "A" doesn't have any. She should be a rising junior yet she doesn't know where - or if- she's going to school next year. When I asked about college or tech school plans she shrugged. There aren't any plans.
By 1:00 another parent had called asking if her son could work his community service hours. She didn't say what he had done but she didn't seem too happy with him. There was mention of him "serving hours for the rest of his life". I'm pretty sure that didn't come from his probation officer.
What is even worse is knowing that until today all of the kids who served community service hours with us disclosed domestic violence or child abuse. It has been a factor in either their families or the dating relationships in which they have already been involved.
That breaks my heart.
We want to make a difference for these kids and sometimes we succeed. Another juvenile offender who came to us almost 2 years ago. He still volunteers every time the Angel Food truck comes in. If it hadn't rained today he would have mowed our yard.
And there have been others.
But to make a difference we need adults willing to put their heart on the line and volunteer to mentor. Even volunteering for only one day can make a kid feel cared about. A seed planted for the postive by a person who takes time to show they care may take years to root and blossom. A seed never planted will never bloom.
Do you have a Thursday, Friday or Saturday where you can come help?
Let us know. We'd love to have you.
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