Once Upon a Time

There is a volunteer at Southside Children’s who reminds us of the Story of the Elves and the Shoemaker. She comes in three days a week; works a few hours shelving the books, and leaves, often without talking with Library Staff or Patrons, but there is no doubt she’s been there and left her gift of shelving all our library books. We hope that she knows how much we appreciate her.

There is also our army of volunteers to help us with Children’s Programs. These angels arrive early every Wednesday for Preschool Story Time and get busy without having to be told what to do. They help set up our craft tables. They greet and sign in the children. They assist with the books, puppets, and flannel board stories. They count the participants. They help kids put together their crafts. And then they clean up! They do the work of ten muscle men! And they seem to remember all the kids’ names!

The same angels also help us with other programs. We do programs that involve games, crafts, and refreshments all at the same time. From behind the scenes, as I’m sure you could imagine, things do get messy. But you should see this team clean up! They spring into action like a well-oiled machine, each part contributing to the whole, and Whiz! Bang! The job is done like magic!

Why do they do it? They love the kids. And they say they want to give back for all the times others have helped them. For our part, we are truly grateful for the generous gifts of kindness, help and support from all our volunteers. We really don’t know what we would do without them.

The End

Picture by TT and Story by TT and LW @ Southside