Kate Braemer is the camp director at the Garrett Williamson Foundation for the under-served children in the Philadelphia area. She and I talked about working with these children by expanding their world experiences. For some of these children their only meal of the day will be at camp. Because of this, Kate has been making big changes in the menu and teaching the children about health and nutrition. She switched from white bread to whole wheat. She has the kitchen making soup and tomato sauces from scratch. She and the campers not only care for the onsite garden, but they eat from it too! Kate is instituting these changes, which will echo into the children’s communities. This raises awareness about health and lower potential instances of obesity. The children are part of a community service program which helps them connect with their environment in a positive way. They participate by picking up garbage they find on the Earth.

Supporting our children is the most important way to institute positive change in our world. And by our, I mean all children. They are the new world leaders and I believe they hold the answers to the issues that trouble us today. Before talking with Kate I was reminiscing about when my son was young and how easy it was for him to march to his own drummer. My experiences with my children showed me that by supporting them with acceptance and love was only the tip of the iceberg. Good nutrition, Earth consciousness, and social awareness play a big role in allowing them to become the leaders they were born to be. When we instituted a recycling program at our elementary school, the children not only picked up the rhythm instantly, but then were instrumental in keeping the teachers up with the program! This year, in parts of the northeast, we experienced the 17 year cicada. The teachers read stories about the cicada and talked at length to the children about their incredible journey. On the playground, there were hundreds of cicadas flying and crawling. Children in grades K-5 would carry these cicadas all over their arms and shoulders, bringing them to the safety of trees. The care and gentleness was inspiring. The children understood the delicate rare cycle of these creatures and honored them. If they can understand and love something so different from themselves, then loving another human who is a different color or religion is an absolute reality. And that is going to be our answer. Co~existence with those we share the Earth with, including our own species.  

The Garrett Williamson Foundation takes donations of every sort for these children in need. Do you have toys that your children have outgrown? Clothing? Furniture? Please reach out to them ~

www.garrettwilliamson.org 

and see where you can lend support.

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