There are many affiliates of the Boys & Girls Club across the country, and I'm sure most of you are relatively familiar with what they do. So I'm not going to talk about that here. What I will say is that while I had my own sense of their mission, actually going to visit one was a completely different experience. I encourage everyone to look up their local Boys & Girls Club and go see what they are doing in (and for) your community. And then take one more small step and see what you can do to support them. There are so many rewarding options for you to make an immense difference in the lives of children. You do not have to travel far, and it will not take a huge financial or time commitment from you. I promise you it will be so worth it for you and them!
Now let me tell you about my day. I wasn't really sure what to expect today, as is really the case for all of the places I visit. Well, the Wake Boys & Girls Club had an incredible surprise for me today. When I initially reached out to them, they had indicated that they could use some instruments. I learned that while some of the kids are able to take music classes at their schools, most of them have to borrow and share their instruments. Additionally, they are not able to take those instruments home with them to continue practicing. Imagine trying to learn both music theory and how to play an instrument simply by the limited classroom time one would get on a daily basis!
I ended up purchasing a trumpet and a clarinet for the Wake Boys & Girls Club to give to two students, so that those students had their own instruments to take home with them after school. I thought I was simply going to deliver those instruments today to be handed out at some later date. I was very happily wrong about that. To my pleasant surprise, in walked Olivia and Nicolas to receive their instruments. But that wasn't all. They then proceeded to unpack and assemble their instruments, and then even started playing them for me :-)
The clarinet was for Olivia, and the trumpet was for Nicolas. Olivia already had some experience with the clarinet, so she was able to look up a song on a phone and play it for me. Nicolas was playing the trumpet for the very first time. That actually brought back a lot of memories for me, as I was exactly the same age as Nicolas when I started playing my very first instrument in school - which also happened to be a trumpet! I was fortunate enough to be able to take my trumpet home with me after school every day to practice (alas, it wasn't something I was very good at playing). So knowing how hard it is to learn for the first time, I was so impressed that after just a few minutes and with some instruction from a math teacher who also plays the trumpet at his church, Nicolas was already getting down the basics of how to blow the trumpet properly. It was so evident how keen he was to really learn about the trumpet (including proper care and maintenance), and I was beyond ecstatic at having been able to share that experience with both Olivia and Nicolas.
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