This past week at Seeds of Caring has flown by, and it has already been filled with many different tasks!

We headed back to the camps we attended last week, this week to discuss senior empathy. We introduced what senior citizens were to the kids and went through some activities to practice our empathy. We read a picture book about an elderly woman and the kids in her neighborhood, as well as played an “I feel you” game where the kids got to see how many of their peers have had the same feelings that they have had about certain situations in their lives.

This was also the first week of the kids making a gift for someone else and donating that gift. They made cards or small pictures for seniors living in memory centers or in senior living communities. They loved that something they had made would be giving a bit of joy to someone who could be feeling a bit lonely right now. They also all wrote special messages on the back, personalizing the donation as well.

I also had a meeting/call with my roommate’s mom, who works for a nonprofit organization in Indianapolis. She gave me a ton of valuable information about the nonprofit world in Indy and about the organization, which has a great impact on the city.

I also met with another staff member to discuss a Civic Engagement Anywhere Project. An “Anywhere Project” is something Seeds of Caring created during the pandemic, and they are still successful today. These are projects families or classrooms can do in the convenience of their own home or space to donate themselves to different organizations. There is an educational and hands on portion of each project so that kids can know who their donations will be helping.

Since I have a background in advocacy work in D.C., I was able to offer some input on what this packet could include. The goal of the Civic Engagement Anywhere Project is to educate kids on how a bill becomes a law. There is also going to be a “letter to a member of Congress” or some type of communication factor to the project as well. I really enjoyed talking out that process and giving some feedback on how best we can teach these kids to create social change in this way!

To finish out the week, I have another meeting with my supervisor to discuss goals for this summer and we finish out this week of camp with our senior empathy lesson!