|
| Little hands doing big work By Ryan Mac Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 1:01 PM PDT Amid crates of bananas and barrels of canned food, five children stood eagerly in the shadow of a Pillar Point Harbor warehouse as they waited for vegetables and fruits to be unloaded before they could lend a tiny hand or two to Coastside Hope’s Second Harvest Food Drive. Sporting matching shirts and Velcro shoes, the group of would-be kindergarteners and first-graders, known as the Half Moon Bay Helping Hands, weaved around dancing mothers and played patty-cake, a stark contrast to some of the older volunteers who dedicated their time to the cause last Thursday afternoon. While many 5-year-olds will spend their summer caught up in the intricacies of finger painting or enraptured in the cartoon offerings of television programming, the Helping Hands, consisting of 6-year-olds Jessica Hedger-Walter and Chance Bucher and 5-year-olds Ryan Grout, Renee Casentini and Mat Bucher have decided to spend some time this summer to a number of Coastside volunteer organizations. For the children, volunteering at the food drive was simple enough. “We’re just picking up fruit and vegetables and putting them in a bag for people who don’t have food,” explained a smiling Bucher as she enthusiastically dropped a bunch of unripe bananas into a bag. According to parent Deb Hedger, the Half Moon Bay Helping Hands is the amalgamation of children’s enthusiasm for public service and the drive of parents to educate their children on various Coastside volunteer organizations. Along with scheduling dates with groups such as Coastside Hope and the Coastside Land Trust, parents have also developed educational skits and stories to help ensure that volunteer work remains fun for the children. Thus far, the Helping Hands have helped by raising more than $200 at a bake sale for the Coastside Land Trust and have planned future dates with organizations such as Puente de la Costa Sur and the Senior Coastsiders. “They know they’re doing something,” assured Hedger. While it may seem a bit out of the ordinary for kindergarteners to help at a food drive, volunteer organizers affirmed the groups worthy contribution. Among them was Beth Bryant, a five-year volunteer at Coastside Hope. “It’s the first time we’ve ever had kids this young,” she said. “They’re definitely helping and it’s a good experience for them.” Marshall Pierson, another Coastside Hope volunteer, agreed with his colleague. “They help us and give us support,” he stated. “It’s great that they’re involved in community service at such an early age, which is also a very impressionable age.” Hedger recognized the skepticism of organizations once they hear the ages of the tots who are sometimes hard to integrate into the tasks of charity and volunteer groups. “At times it’s been hard, and once [the volunteer groups have] learned that they’re 5 and 6, they ask, ‘How many?’ Hedger explained. “Groups have been varied in the amount of enthusiasm, but many have been supportive.” “It’s fine as long as we have something for them to do,” Bryant later added. “But if you asked if I would like to have a lot more (young children) helping, I’d have to say, ‘No.’” Fully occupied on Thursday afternoon by bananas, celery and cucumbers, the children were content with their task as they raced with volunteers to line up filled bags of food along the warehouse driveway. The children, oblivious to their large generation gap with other volunteers, hoped to prove their independence as they cried to their parents: “We don’t need help!” For Kerry Lobel, executive director of Puente de la Costa Sur, age makes little difference to the overall goals of community service. Helping Hands has scheduled a volunteer date at Puente for early July to help interact and assist other children and also clean up after day camp. “The word Puente means ‘bridge’ and for us any opportunity to build bridges is very important,” she said. “Whether the individual is 5 or 95 anyone can find a home or build a bridge here.” Lobel went on to characterize the “continuum” of volunteer work and community awareness, emphasizing the importance of starting at a young age. “It’s a very interesting and creative idea and also builds for the future,” she said. “Give me a group of 5-year-olds who are interested in helping Puente, and soon we’ll have a generation of interested 25-year-olds who will be interested in helping with their pocketbooks.” |