Community Kids Camp | A Volunteer’s Experience

Linda Ross  |  CFC Features  |  Family

My name is Linda Ross, and I have participated in Community Kids Camp for the past two summers.

The first year I was a teacher for a group of five to seven year olds. This was a stretch for me as at the time I was working night shift, so I would go to Kids Camp, jump around and dance with them, (which I LOVED BECAUSE I am really nine years old inside) take them to their outside games, and spend time teaching them their daily lesson, take them to snack time, jump around and dance some more, go home, sleep for an hour, then go to work. Oh, I guess I should mention that I was 65 years old, and not quite as full of the energy I had when leading young child groups in my thirties, Lol! But I am SO GLAD I was able to do it! I was still relatively new at CFC, and it helped me get to know more members.

The highlight of this week was when I found out that the twin girls, who were in my class, and not church members, are my son’s nieces, whom I had not seen since they were babies. The look on their faces when I told them that I was their Uncle David’s mommy WAS PRICELESS!

As tired as I was, I was blessed by the children each night. I decided I would do it again the next summer. But, the very next week I fell off of a rented bike at the beach and fractured my spine. This ended my working career, as well as the ability to jump around and dance. When Kids Camp came around again last summer, I signed up to help with crafts. What a blast I had doing this!!! My favorite craft was the robots we had the kids make. There were some leftovers, so I was able to take enough home for two robots, and my grandchildren from Michigan were able to make them when they visited a few weeks later. I thought, ” Wow! I want to do crafts again next year!”

As this past year progressed, I became very active in serving in the cafe on Sundays, and during the Spring women’s Bible study. When sign up time for this year’s Kids Camp arrived, I was all set to sign up for crafts, when I got a call to coordinate the snack program for that week. I accepted after praying about it for a day or two.

I will be honest, even though my job was in food service, I am a little nervous. In my job, I cooked and served for a hundred or more every night, but everything I needed was already in place. As snack coordinator, I will have to send out solicitation letters to local supermarkets, Turkey Hill, Sheetz, and whomever else I can think might donate. This takes me out of my comfort zone for sure, and this is probably why The Lord put me in this position. HE is the one who will provide what we need for the over one hundred children who will be coming through the doors each night, all I have to do is be obedient, and HE will take care of the rest!

So, as I finish up this blog I am resting in the knowledge that I am going to have a blast this year too!! I will be blessed, as we all involved in Kids Camp, and the kids coming will be blessed in working for and learning about Jesus’s great love for us.

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