Oh I’ve told this story before many, many years ago.

For my 16th birthday my parents gifted me a red convertible but I legit threw a fit over it because the car was red and not blue. They kept the car for themselves and got me a new one. Just a small amount of context to show how spoiled I was.

Years later I needed volunteer hours for various college applications, etc etc. There was an 8-week summer camp that was perfect. 8 weeks as a counselor where I didn’t really have to do anything? Sign me up.

This summer camp was hosted by Americorps. It served the under privileged in my area for free if the family couldn’t afford it or for something $25 a week if they could.

There was this kid. Lovely little thing but they refused to take off their shoes. Going to the pool for the day? They’d keep their shoes on. They were adamant about never taking off their shoes, almost combatant about it. We knew something was wrong then. When there was a quiet/nap time, I took the kid to the office of the person running the camp and just sat down to talk to them. We talked about a lot of stuff and then I was able to get them to open up about why they never took their shoes off.

Their shoes were 3 sizes too small. They took off their shoes and their socks were covered in old blood plus new blood. Their poor feet were wrecked from wearing these shoes for god knows how long. I grabbed a first aid kit then cleaned up his wounds the best I could and wrapped them in bandages. I threw his socks and shoes away.

On my lunch hour I sat in my car crying for what felt like hours. I got ittogether, went to a shoe store and bought them 3 pairs of shoes in 3 different sizes. One pair that fit them now and the other 2 as their feet grew.

It was such a harrowing, humbling moment. A huge wake up call. That camp taught me A LOT and I came away with a lot of stories much like that from many of the kids that attended the camp.

I spent 2 years as an Americorps, then joined their VISTA program for another year. I started volunteering to work with at risk kids. I became a ‘big sister’. I did everything I could to give back to my community.

It’s over 20 years later. I still volunteer and help whenever/however I can.

When I look back on myself from that time I can’t believe how entitled and spoiled I acted/was. It was a life changing experience. One that I will **always** be thankful for.