All the Athletics

All the Athletics

Day 3 was focused on serving with the Youth Villages at the Brentwood campus in Memphis.  The Youth Villages serves young people from 8-18 who are struggling to find their place in the community whether they have found themselves in the judicial system or been placed in foster care and circumstances brought them to the center. When we arrived in the morning we got to work or play with 8 to 10 year old boys outside doing anything from a mad game of kickball to walks around the lake.  Then we participated in runners club which is a program that gets youth out and walking or running with volunteers from the community to rack up miles and reach milestones.  The program rewards children when they get to 50, 75, 100, and 150 miles or farther.  After diving into conversation with the kids on our runs we took a break for lunch.  During that time we met with an administrator at the village and talked about the ins and outs of their program on campus and the outreach programs they conduct all over the city and in 22 other cities.

After we fueled back up we ventured over to the girls center, a facility that houses girls who need extra attention. Splitting up we interacted with groups of girls 9 to 12, 13 to 15, and 16 to 18 doing anything from playing cards to a savage game of kickball.  We all had a great time just spending an hour with girls who showed us real joy.

We finished the day watching our Vols play Texas A&M.  Although it was a heartbreaking loss we filled the fro-yo shop we took over with cheers and songs of Rocky Top until we left with our hearts in our throats but hope for next week.