Dallas has been AWESOME so far! Today we had the opportunity to serve at the Wesley-Rankin Community Center. This morning we were able to do a bit of indirect service. We cleaned out several rooms in their facility so that school uniforms could be stored there. We were not working directly with the children, but we were able to do work that the staff members would have had to make time to do. The center serves an entire community of people with varied ages and we were also able to work a little with the senior citizens in the community. Most of them did not speak English, but we were still able to communicate and enjoy each others company. There are only 5 staff members and there are several services that the center provides, so to be able to do a little work so they did not have to made a huge difference.
In the afternoon, we were able to work with several of the kids that the center provides an after school program for. I personally worked with a 10 year old little girl named Jailyn. We were able to read together and talk. She expressed to me her love for Beyonce and how we both have birthdays in May. She also told me that after she left the center that evening, she would be responsible for taking care of her baby brother because her Mom works until 10:30pm every night. At the beginning of the morning, one of the staff members at the center, had expressed to us that the kids only know their own experience and that they could usually tell if a child would graduate from high school by the time they reached the 3rd grade. When Jailyn told me that, it hit me hard. I wanted so badly for the bright and spunky little girl in front of me to not be a victim of her circumstances. I wanted her to be whatever she wanted to be. I think places like Wesley-Rankin are able to make that happen. By providing education, the cycle can be broken. The kids that are able to come to the center after school everyday have an opportunity to aspire to greater things.
This has been a great day of service. We got to do both indirect and direct service, as well as see how far the center serves their community. We were able to see how far their reach is and how much of a positive impact they have on their community. I am very excited for the rest of the week. I can’t wait to play more games, run more relays, hang out with awesome kids, and SERVE Dallas more!