Volunteering

It has been a while since I last penned a few lines in this blog... gosh! We are already in August, how quickly this year has gone by! Life had been busy and full.

I was up early this morning as this was the first time I am rostered on to volunteer under our workplace program with the Red Cross through their Good Start Breakfast Club. Our organisation send at least 2 of us each fortnight to help existing staff at the Glebe Public School to serve breakfast to the children at the school. All the children can participate in this program. The idea behind this initiative is based on the premise that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Having the first meal of the day assists the children with their physical, mental and emotional development. Children who miss breakfast are less able to concentrate, more prone to fidgeting and will find it difficult to concentrate by mid-morning. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that children who miss out on a healthy breakfast are more likely to suffer from obesity later in life.

This program is usually held through schools which are considered to be socially or economically disadvantaged. Glebe Public Schools is attended by children from Aboriginal backgrounds and kids living in the housing commissions.

On this chilly morning, the children start arriving from 8 am with the "peak" period starting from 8.15am when the bus drops them off. They are served cereals or toast and the volunteers and staff keep an eye on the quantity taken eg if a child has consumed more than 4 pieces of toast, he / she will be asked to stop and given an alternative such as some cereals instead. I put too much vegemite for one girl and it was too much for her that she had to ask for just buttered toast!

One of the boys came in and told us that he had recently moved in with his sister who constantly "bashed" him and his brothers... very sad!

Some of the kids are also served dinner before they head home as this was likely to be their last meal of the day before they come to school again the following morning for breakfast. Mind you... dinner is served at 4.30pm!!

It was a good and humbling experience. Good to take stock of the blessings that we have money to put food on the table and are not lacking.