Program- Volunteers

Volunteers

One of my favorite parts of Club is when volunteers come in to teach, show, or interact with the kids which changes up the normal programming we offer. A year ago, MountainFilm on Tour came in to the Montrose Unit and showed kid-oriented cultural and nature movies. The Olathe Volunteer Fire Department and Olathe Police Department came to Olathe and had a giant water fight with the kids. Spirit Community Church brought the kids rice krispy treats and just spent the day hanging out with them. It is these interactions that show the kids that the Club staff not only cares about them, but the community we live in as well. The Montrose Unit got some special volunteers last week; it was one of the few times the volunteers were not human but the kids still learned a lot!

On July 19, Beth and her team at Equine Empowerment, including horses Dillon and Jack, were on site in Montrose to teach the kids about communication. First the kids learned how horses communicate with each other and how humans can interact with a horse, including what is a polite or rude human/horse interaction. The Club members also got the chance to practice what it is like to communicate like a horse via body language without words. The kids had a great experience learning about how to properly interact with the horses and about the power of language both verbal and non-verbal.

Thank you to Beth and her team for coming out to volunteer with the kids. It is always a great experience for the kids to learn something and interact with someone new. For more information on the Equine Empowerment program, check out https://www.facebook.com/equineempowerment1/. To learn more about the different types of volunteering that you, or a furry friend, can do at Club, check out https://www.bcbgc.org/support-the-club/volunteer.

Bud Taylor is the Executive Director of the Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club (BCBGC) and has been for the past three years. Prior to that he was a Club kid, Junior Staff Member, and Board Director of the BCBGC. For more information on the Club, please visit www.bcbgc.org.