New York CARES!

So a while ago I was walking and saw a poster for an organization called New York Cares. It's a volunteer organization that links events or other organizations with people who want to volunteer. Overall, there are over 48,000 people who volunteer through this program. It's such an easy concept but so ingenious at the same time. I've volunteered for a couple of events through them. The first was with a group that played with developmentally delayed children for 2 hours so their parents could take a break or get other errands done. I played with an 8 year-old boy who ran around the gym for the last hour. We would run a lap around, weaving in and out of other kids playing basketball or bowling. We would rest against the wall and he would say, "Only 62 more."
"Oh man, I don't know if I can do it." "You can do it, Nicole. I believe in you." He was great.

A couple weeks ago, my roommate Ami and I did a larger event where kids from a homeless shelter made t-shirts for kids in the Congo. Besides the t-shirts, there were general arts and crafts, a writing station, a necklace/bracelet station and a photo booth. They had a dj and pizza and drinks and we took random dance breaks in which everyone was supposed to get up and dance. It was a really cool event that took place right in Manhattan in this beautiful ballroom. A few celebrities came, including Tate Donovan (who was on the O.C. and now on Damages on Abc(?)), Kyle Massey and his brother (they are on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon) and Corbin Bleu (the curly headed kid from High School Musical). The kids went crazy for the Disney Channel stars and it was really cool to see them enjoy the event.

I'm sure I'll do other projects in the future because it's such an awesome way to get involved.