Volunteers Make All the Difference

Christina, CalSERVES Volunteer at Wright

This is my first year working with CalSERVES as a VIP Fellow. Coming into this position I knew that it was my responsibility to bring extra help into our classrooms. With this in mind, I worked under the assumption that people would come and go, essentially becoming transient volunteers. After all, people have school, friends, family, and lives of their own. Why would they spend an extra couple days a week helping our kids? They're strangers and have no relationship to them. What I found within the first few weeks, however, was that like the CalSERVES Team, our volunteers have fallen in love with the Wright kids.

I don't know how to thank those who have sacrificed their time to be here. I always tell volunteers when they come in for an orientation that even if they are unsure of themselves right away, the fact that they are here and sitting next to our kids means the world. It shows the kids that they are important and that others care for them and want to be here.

One volunteer in particular took my advice so seriously that she made sure to stay until each student was picked up. To Christina volunteering isn't just a requirement for class or an activity to beef up her resume; it is something that she did because she enjoys kids. Each day in the second grade she is as good as a third mentor. Drawing pictures for the kids when they land at the top of the clip chart and playing the keyboard during song and dance club makes her one of our best recruits.

I am continually amazed by each of our long-term volunteer's consistency. These are the kinds of people who enhance our program. Without them, each mentor and team leader would have a harder time tying up loose ends. I will forever respect and admire their kindness and generosity. I hope that this semester will find Wright with even more positive people coming through our doors.

Lauren Loeffler, AmeriCorps VIP at Wright Charter School