After the recent rain storms
I’ve had to keep my eyes peeled for potholes around town. An expert on potholes stated that the only way to prevent potholes from forming after storms is to maintain the strength of our roads during the rest of the year. This is also true for our character. It’s after the storms of life that holes in our character are revealed. When we strengthen our character before storms come, the building blocks of who we are won’t crumble under pressure.
At our United Kids After-School Program we are focusing on strengthening character in our kids. One of our newest students, Chris has been welcomed into our United Kids family and has shown some noticeable changes in his character.
Prior to being enrolled in December, he met with a mentor for a month. During mentoring his disrespectful behavior to his classmates, teacher and mom were revealed. A deal was made with his mentor that if he began following the directions of his mom and teacher, and if he no longer was sent to the office for bad behavior, he would be allowed to visit United Kids to see what it was like.
During the testing time, his mentor invited Chris and his mom to church where others cared for them. Whether it was having food brought over when his mom was sick, Christmas presents delivered or assistance given to help get urgent dental work done… all of these acts of compassion brought hope and love to Chris and his mom.
After Christmas our staff asked Chris’ teacher how his behavior had been since returning from Christmas break and she said, “He has had the best two weeks this whole school year, and the only thing I can think of that has changed is that he started going to United Kids.”
Thank you for making it possible for us to build into kids like Chris every week. We are looking for more people to join us in our character building work. Come unite for change with us?
Donna Whitman
Director, Unite for Neighbors