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This past Saturday I had the pleasure of volunteering with New York Cares. The volunteers took a group of ten little boys and girls to the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in mid-town Manhattan. It was a fun filled day of learning about technology. It was very fulfilling knowing the few hours we spent with the kids meant so much to them. I was really surprised at how well-mannered the kids were too. I would definitely be inclined to continue this project again.
Image by jasoneppink via FlickrSony’s museum is great. There’s a ton of stuff to do and interact with and makes for a fun learning environment for the kids as well as the adults. When you walk in your given a card that lets you interact with anything in the museum. Visitors are encouraged to look and touch to get the most of their experience. When you leave you get a print-out of everything you did while you were in the museum. Taking your experience with you is the name of the game.
If you haven’t volunteered yet I urge you to try it out and New York Cares is a great place to start. They always have lots of projects running at the same time so you can pick and choose where and when you are willing to give some of your time to doing something besides watching TV. It’s also good for your community and giving is always better then receiving even if you don’t think that way yet. What you are actually getting back is the satisfaction knowing you did something for someone else, someone that needs your help. I sound like a charity infomercial but it’s really not that hard to do. The rewards are not always tactile or on the surface but they may emerge when you least expect it.
The little boy I shadowed while I was there was very quiet and looked like he was very sad. Then I found something that we both we’re very excited about (video games) and the adventure took off. His frown was replaced with laughs and he was filled with a thousand and one things to say. Finding that common interest was like that aha moment. Everything that followed just felt right.
This experience is something that I want to share with everyone; yes it’s that good of a feeling. Trust me if you ever wanted to do something like this, I say “Just Do It” Start here www.newyorkcares.org
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