I live in this community and see kids that concern me. I don’t know who they are or where they live. But I wonder if they get enough to eat each day or if they have enough clothing for each season. I want to help. But how?
Approximately 20 years ago I lived in Holland, MI. My church participated in the Kids Hope program. I became a Kids Hope mentor to a 1st grade boy. We met once a week for one hour. Just one hour. Sometimes I helped him with school work. Sometimes we played games. But when he saw me at his classroom door, his eyes lit up and he came to meet as quickly as possible. We both benefited from that one hour per week.
Fast Forward 8 Years
About 12 years ago (now living in Iowa), I wanted to find a program our church Sunday school kids could participate in. I thought of Kid’s Hope and wondered if we could help the program in a neighboring town. I talked with a Kids Hope Director and together we decided it wasn’t something that our church kids could help with. But I remember her telling me that the school district I live in could really use a Kid’s Hope program because it had a good amount of at risk kids. I pocketed that fact. It always lingered in my mind.
About 10 years ago I am behind a girl in my local grocery store line. She was about 13 years old. She had on very dirty white jogging pants on a hot day. I was close enough to her that I could tell she smelled badly. She only looked down. I drove past her on the way home to see her lugging a gallon of milk in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other. She still looked down. I wanted to give her a ride but didn’t want to alarm her or anyone watching us. I wondered who she was and how I could help her.
Fast Forward To Every Day Life
I go for walks in my town and hear parents screaming at their kids. Do those kids get any love? I hear stories of kids coming to school and not wanting to go home because of their bad home lives. Or they raise a ruckus in school because they are miserable at the young age of 8. Or they don’t have money for lunch and don’t bring a lunch with them.
How do I make a difference in these kids’ lives? Going door to door offering help seems silly and risky. Approaching kids on the street is a bad idea. And on my own, what if the kids I choose to help aren’t really the ones in need?
Kids Hope still lingers in my mind. For years I put it off thinking it would be too much. Too much time, energy, work, emotional stress that I don’t need and can’t handle.
Once Again, Covid
Then COVID hit and I had time to think and re-evaluate. What is really important in life? How can I make a difference in the community around me? What does this community need from the churches here in town?
Of course, God pushes Kids Hope to the front of my mind once again. And I decide it is time. I email the Kids Hope program for the 3rd time in the past 10 years to inquire, but this time I follow through. Can’t wait to see how God changes this community.
It Takes Little Effort To Make A Difference
It’s hard to believe that a mentor giving one hour a week to a child could change the child’s life. But it does. The mentor’s words might be the only kind words the child hears. The mentor might be the only adult the child trusts. And that hour might be the only one on one adult time the child gets. Ever.
There are wonderful testimonies from Kids Hope kids that tell how the love of their mentor saved them. That love gave them confidence, saving them from a life of addiction and poverty. The kids made something of themselves because of the encouragement of one adult. One adult they saw only once a week, but one that faithfully showed up week and after week and showed he cared.
Again, can’t wait to see how God changes this community, or at least the lives of a few mentors and kids.
If you live in my area and want to make a difference, let me know. I would love to tell you more about Kids Hope.
