The Kid’s Café Reading Readiness program at the Baldwin Center is a free program where local students from kindergarten to 12th grade can participate in order to increase their reading skills and comprehension. The program, run by staff and volunteers, gives the students an opportunity to do their homework and expand their knowledge outside the classroom in order to further their education and help them with problems they may be facing in regards to their schoolwork.
I have worked with the children at the Kid’s Café Reading Readiness program and had a delightful experience. While spending time there, I was able to help young students with their schoolwork and push them to WANT to do their work well. I have formed a positive relationship with many of the children there and was able to be a role model to students that wanted to further their education past high school.
What to expect: The youth have designated rooms in which they are to complete their homework arranged by age groups. After working for a while, the center offers a dinner where the youth have an opportunity to earn “Baldwin Bucks” that they can spend on small toys or books and even save their “bucks” at the center to buy larger items. The incentive to do well is a value that the Baldwin Center is trying to instill in their young visitors in more regards than their schoolwork. The job of a volunteer is to positively impact the youth and work with them to benefit them and their community.
If you want an experience that you will not soon forget, the Baldwin Center is your one stop volunteer shop.
(written by Kaitlyn)
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Baldwin Family Soup Kitchen
Baldwin Family Soup Kitchen is a program that provides well-balanced meals to 300-350 people, five days a week, every week of the year. The Baldwin Center runs several food service programs, but by far the Family Soup Kitchen is the most popular.
If you have been to a soup kitchen before, your experience will be quite similar, but the people at the Baldwin Center are what make this volunteer opportunity one in a million. Being a volunteer here means you are interacting with your local community and learning about the culture of Pontiac. In recent years, Pontiac has been in need of a lot of help and our job as local community members is to better the lives of people around us.
If you are looking for a fast paced fun environment where you get to meet many people that will put a smile on your face, this is the place for you. I have never had a dull moment working at the Baldwin Family Soup Kitchen, and sometimes, small food fights break out!
(written by Kaitlyn)
Clothes Closet
Almost everyone has clothes that they no longer wear (or have never worn). These clothes sit in the closet or in the dress, taking up space. We tell ourselves (or our mothers) that we will wear them again, eventually - even though deep down we know that it's not true.
Want to know something?
You can donate these clothes to the Baldwin Center's Clothes Closet, where they will be put to good use.
Don't have clothes, but have sheets, blankets, or small household items that you don't use? As long as they're in good condition, you can donate these to the Clothes Closet as well. The Clothes Closet provides 12, 500 low income individuals and families with clean clothing, sheets, blankets, and small household items, all free of charge.
Don't have anything to donate?
Actually, you do! Time!
At the Clothes Closet, volunteers can sort clothes either straight from the donation bags or even where the clothing is offered to those in need. All you need to do is contact Jason Morgan at jmorgan@baldwincenter.org.
Want to know something?
You can donate these clothes to the Baldwin Center's Clothes Closet, where they will be put to good use.
Don't have clothes, but have sheets, blankets, or small household items that you don't use? As long as they're in good condition, you can donate these to the Clothes Closet as well. The Clothes Closet provides 12, 500 low income individuals and families with clean clothing, sheets, blankets, and small household items, all free of charge.
Don't have anything to donate?
Actually, you do! Time!
At the Clothes Closet, volunteers can sort clothes either straight from the donation bags or even where the clothing is offered to those in need. All you need to do is contact Jason Morgan at jmorgan@baldwincenter.org.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Trunk-or-Treating
Every kid's favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas. When I was a kid, we got to have parties in school, I got to dress up in a costume made by my grandmother, and we went out and got free candy from neighbors. But, what about for the kids who don't have costumes? What if their parents work or don't have the time to take them out? What happens when nobody's porch lights are on?
Cue the Baldwin Center and Trunk-or-Treating.
Last year, a group of friends and I went to the Baldwin Center to help out with this event. We all dressed up and drove onto the lawn in front of the house, spilling candy all over the trunk of the car after we opened up the trunk hatch of the mini van. Then the kids started coming, all in costumes. I was glad to see a lot of parents had come as well. Though most of the kids were shy and quickly moved from car to car, they talked and giggled with each other, and sometimes graced us with the knowledge of their name. You could tell they had a good time and were just as thrilled as we used to be at the prospect of free candy. And we all had just as much fun giving out candy as the kids did receiving it.
Trunk or treating is an opportunity that requires little commitment, only a few hours once a year and a few bags of candy, and reaps great rewards, not just for the kids, but for everyone.
Cue the Baldwin Center and Trunk-or-Treating.
Last year, a group of friends and I went to the Baldwin Center to help out with this event. We all dressed up and drove onto the lawn in front of the house, spilling candy all over the trunk of the car after we opened up the trunk hatch of the mini van. Then the kids started coming, all in costumes. I was glad to see a lot of parents had come as well. Though most of the kids were shy and quickly moved from car to car, they talked and giggled with each other, and sometimes graced us with the knowledge of their name. You could tell they had a good time and were just as thrilled as we used to be at the prospect of free candy. And we all had just as much fun giving out candy as the kids did receiving it.
Trunk or treating is an opportunity that requires little commitment, only a few hours once a year and a few bags of candy, and reaps great rewards, not just for the kids, but for everyone.