Wish Child Kyler Reddick

Date: August-November 2014

When I started this blog back in November 2012, I was less than 2 months into my career as a volunteer.  I tried to keep up with my posts and for the next few months was current with my projects, meaning that readers would know what I had been up to in a very timely fashion.  Then as my activities increased I started falling behind, so much so that at Thanksgiving I am reporting on events from June.  I have never deviated from this linear timeline and some folks have even asked what I have been up to recently, considering the last update they had from me was through a post of an event months ago.  It is sad that this is what our world has come to - over reliance on social media for our updates.  But that linear narrative is interrupted for today.  I will return back to June after this post, but this is a story that needs to be told right now.  It simply cannot wait.

Back in Spring of 2013 I went through the Make-A-Wish ‘Wish Granter’ training and in couple of months was assigned a ‘Wish Partner’.  We received our first assignment and despite months of trying, we were unable to complete that wish.  Subsequently we have been assigned another ‘Wish Kid’ and I am happy to report – more details in a future post – that the process is going well and our kid will soon have their wish fulfilled.  During this time my friend Michelle, who is a fellow ‘Wish Granter’, approached me to see if we wanted to take on a wish together.  Her partner is from the suburbs and so they have done several wishes over there, but she wanted to do a wish in the city.  I got permission from my partner to do a wish “on the side” and so Michelle and I started seeking a ‘Wish Child’.  We did not have to wait long since one of Michelle’s colleagues brought to her attention her friends 3-year old child who had been approved for a wish and who was awaiting ‘Wish Granter’ assignment.  We applied and were approved immediately.  The child’s name was Kyler Reddick.

Michelle and I scheduled a visit with the family and had a narrow window on a Sunday in August.  Our cab ride turned out to be eventful and we were dropped off in a location which was miles away from where we were supposed to be.  We walked about for a bit in the unfamiliar surroundings and since our window was closing fast, we even considered cancelling.  But that should never be an option with ‘Wish Granters’ and we managed to get another cab and arrived at the family’s home, knowing that we would have a short time to meet with them.  We had read in Kyler’s file that he was a big fan of ‘Pixar’ and ‘Disney’ and the living room was a proof of that.  The TV was playing a ‘Pixar’ film and there were toys all over the place.  Kyler himself was sitting on the couch with his parents, Carey and Rebecca, and at first glance it was clear that he was a happy child.  I had a feeling that his wish would have something to do with ‘Disney’/‘Pixar’, but we needed to be sure.  BY asking him the right questions and with some help from the parents, we settled on a visit to ‘Disneyworld’ in Orlando, where he could meet his heroes ‘Woody’ and ‘Buzz’ from ‘Toy Story’.  The other option was a visit to ‘Pixar Animation’ itself in California, but there were some complications there.

Kyler had been diagnosed with brain cancer and was undergoing extensive treatment.  Although this had taken a toll on his body, looking at his great spirit you would not have guessed it.  He was smiling throughout our visit and was playing with his toys.  Rebecca mentioned that they were waiting to check if they would get accepted for an experimental trial in Memphis and if so, they would have to leave very soon.  This would make a trip to the West Coast a bit challenging and thus we settled on a short visit to Orlando.  They were excited about that and we filled out the paperwork, including a request for Kyler’s grandma and uncle – his best buddy – to visit as well.  Needless to say, the entire trip would revolve around his acceptance into the program and we knew that not only would MAW need to be ready fast, but the family would also be required to travel at a short notice.

The paperwork is usually mailed to MAW within a couple of days of the visit, but I have always been a big proponent of the “personal touch”.  So I hand-delivered the papers to MAW offices and met with Amy, the ‘Wish Manager’.  I tried my best to communicate what we had seen at Kyler’s place and why this wish and its timing were so critical.  One of things I brought to her attention was Rebecca’s picture on the copy of the driver’s license that we are required to submit.  The picture had been taken a year ago and in it she was a smiling and radiant young woman, far different than the worried and tired person we had seen.  The picture was a testament to the toll that this had taken on her and Kyler deserved this wish...all of them in the family did.  I am sure Amy receives such messages every day from other ‘Wish Granters’ and to her credit she listened and promised to expedite.  Within a few days Kyler’s wish had been assigned to a ‘Wish Coordinator’, Nikki, and Michelle and I worked with her and Rebecca to schedule the family’s visit to Orlando.  Kyler was going to ‘Disneyworld’.

Off to 'Disneyworld'

The Reddick’s were scheduled to depart from O’Hare airport on August 27^th around 7 am.  Michelle and I decided to split some of our duties, where she went and dropped off a “goody bag” a couple of days prior to the departure.  I decided to go to the airport and was scheduled to meet with the family at 5:30 am.  I arrived at 5:15, thinking that I would be ready to welcome them, but saw that all of them, dressed in their MAW shirts had already checked-in and were ready to go inside.  I walked them to the security and the last thing I heard before they walked through was Kyler’s excited voice saying, “I’m going to Disneyworld”.

Day’s went by and by following the blog that Rebecca maintained – since Kyler’s diagnosis – I was able to see their pictures from the trip, including Kyler meeting various ‘Pixar’ characters.  He seemed on the top of the world, as did the rest of the family.  But it wasn’t all good news on the blog.  I came to learn that Kyler had been denied admission for the trial and over time the doctors recommended that he be under the care of a nurse at home.  In the meanwhile MAW “closed” the wish, meaning my association with this wish was over.  But it really wasn’t.  Rebecca continued to post updates and following that became a part of my daily routine.  I saw how Kyler’s health was on the decline but despite that he continued to fight, never losing his love for all things ‘Pixar’.  While all of this was undoubtedly exhausting for her, Rebecca continued to let us all know what happening, perhaps this being the one outlet for her to express her frustrations at the extreme injustice that life had presented her family.

The candle at 'Cathedral of St. John's The Divine'

I love visiting New York city and try to go there as much as possible. One of the places that I visit without failure is ‘Cathedral Of St. John The Divine’ on the upper west side.  Growing up I was never religious and did not much believe in the power of a prayer.  That attitude was further reinforced as I pursued a career in science.  But then I came across MAW and through the ‘Believe’ program that I proudly participate in each year, I came to myself “believe” in the power of a wish…the power of hoping for a miracle.  One such afternoon I found myself in my favorite place in New York city and the first thing I did was get candles at the visitors shop and light one up for Kyler’s health.  The situation may have been grim, but there is always hope for a miracle.  The struggles continued and through Rebecca's blog I continued to follow Kyler – and his parents – heroic battle against cancer.  And then, on Friday, November 21^st I got a phone call from Michelle.  Kyler had lost his fight.

It is never easy to accept that something you have been used to for every day of your life does not exist anymore.  I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for Rebecca and Carey.  They had known for some time what was going to happen, but it’s never easy to accept is it?  On Saturday I went for the annual ‘UIC Children’s Hospital Festival Of Thanksgiving’ and I spoke with Dr. Schmidt, whom I had met the previous year.  She once again reiterated how a few hours of this party make a huge difference to the children and their families who are undergoing a tough time.  That day more than ever before, I felt the importance of that message. 

The family had arranged a visitation on Monday evening and Michelle and I had decided to attend.  Rebecca had posted on the blog a request for everyone to wear grey as a support for cure for brain cancer.  She also posted a blog entry titled "3 years 5 months 3 days 6 hours and 12 minutes” in which she described the last few hours of Kyler’s life.  I have read some heartbreaking things in my time…some through MAW programs.  But nothing comes close to reading a mother’s anguish about a lost child.  It is one of the most courageous things that I have ever seen in writing.  I also learned that Kyler had been born on June 17^th 2011.  That was the day I had come to Chicago to look for my new apartment since I was moving here.  I remember that day very clearly. A day which had probably been the happiest one for Rebecca and Carey.

I had rented a car and Michelle and I arrived at the funeral home at the outskirts of Chicago on a cold, snowy evening.  This was my 3^rd visit to a funeral home in 3 months and you never know what you are going to encounter.  As we entered the room, we saw that there was a basket of grey ribbons and guests were once again, encouraged to put them on.  I saw Rebecca and Carey being comforted by visitors and there were a roomful of them.  It was a closed casket visitation, meaning there were children around us and I saw a toddler running around playing as only a toddler can.  In that setting, it was perhaps the best thing for all of us, to see that child’s behavior.  But there was something even more striking in that room.  Throughout the entire place, Kyler’s photographs had been put up – hundreds of them.  They were from when he was an infant, right up to the final difficult days.  And in all of them one thing was common – his brilliant smile. There were pictures from ‘Disneyworld’ and from other family outings or just pictures from his home.  Plus, the room had been filled with Kyler’s toys – almost all of them related to ‘Disney/Pixar’.  We walked around the room, seeing all of the pictures, but the most poignant for me was a picture where Kyler had put his face through a cardboard cutout of an adult surfer.  I thought that this would be the one which would haunt his loved ones forever.  It was a picture of the man Kyler would have grown up to be…the man he would never be.  We met with Carey and Rebecca, who broke down as she thanked us for making his wish come true.  We had just done a small thing really.  For on that day, in my mind it was absolutely clear who the real heroes of this world are.

One of the great movies from the classic era of ‘Hollywood’ is a picture called ‘Sullivan’s Travels’.  It is a story of film director who is known for making comedies and in his quest to make a more “serious” movie, he comes to realize the importance of making someone laugh, for sometimes that is all that there is for some people.  Chaplin knew it. Keaton knew it.  P.T. Barnum, the man who gave us the gift of the American Circus once said, “The noblest art is that of making others happy”.  And nobody does a better job of that than the people working under the banner of – what in my mind is the greatest name in history of cinema – ‘Walt Disney Studios’ and ‘Pixar Animation’.  We know them as makers of children’s movies and the theme parks which are visited by millions.  But now that I have had a chance to work with MAW and have seen kids like Kyler and others who have made these characters their life.  I often wonder if the people at ‘Disney/Pixar’ have an idea on the impact they make of the lives of all kids…no all people.  Yes, the movies and parks are successful and yes millions of pieces of merchandise are sold, but their contributions go far beyond that.  They make children happy.  I mean truly happy.  People need to remind them of that.  At the end of ‘Toy Story 3’ there is a scene where a grown up teen hands over his box of toys – including his favorite – to a little girl so that through her love those toys would live forever.  As some of the families walked over to comfort Rebecca, I saw her hand the kids some toys from a basket.  Perhaps it was time for these toys to find a new home.  There have been a few moments in my life of extraordinary clarity and at that moment I knew that for the rest of my life I would always be indebted to the heroes at ‘Disney' and 'Pixar’.

It was time for us to leave and we walked over to pay our respects to Kyler.  No casket should ever be this small.  It is a strange fate that those who want nothing more than to live are gone too soon while some others continue to suffer long years in a prison of pain.  We stopped to give our condolences to Kyler’s uncle and grandma and they both thanked us again and the grandma even said that she had time on her hands and would love to volunteer.  This is something that we have seen a lot with MAW where the affected families and kids usually find a way to give back through one way or the other.  We returned back to our daily lives wondering how much time it would take for Rebecca and Carey to achieve some sort of mental peace to go on with theirs.  The next day I put up the grey ribbon in my office wall, next to a picture of the family on their way to ‘Disneyworld’; a picture where Kyler has the biggest smile on his face.  Now, there was one final thing left to do.

I had come home on Saturday to find a hand written sympathy card from MAW, which every staff member had signed.  I pretty much lost it then and knew that it is easy to take an organization like that for granted.  I wrote to the ‘Wish Coordinator’ Nikki that I would like to come meet her at MAW offices.  I went over at noon and told her how much of a difference MAW makes in the lives of people like Kyler.  I am sure it’s something she and MAW have heard many times over, but it should never get old.  They had literally managed to grant Kyler’s wish in days…days.  If I owe people at ‘Disney/Pixar’ a debt of gratitude, I do not even know where to begin with MAW.  It is my life’s greatest privilege to be a ‘Wish Granter’ with this organization or even be associated with them.  As I had walked out of the funeral home, I had picked up a card with Kyler’s photo on the front and a poem on the back. I gave one card to Nikki and she said that she would put it up in her desk.  I learned through a search that the poem is written by Vicky Holder and is often used for occasions such as these.  There is nothing more I can say than to reproduce it in its entirety below.  Yeah, there’s nothing more left to say, nothing other than, "Goodbye little buddy. You’re now in the great Disneyland in the sky."

They say memories are golden,

well, maybe this is true.

I never wanted memories,

I only wanted you.

A million times I needed you,

a million times I cried.

If love alone could have saved you,

you never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,

In death I love you still.

Inside my heart you hold a place,

no one could ever fill.

If tears could build a stairway

and heartache make a lane,

I'd walk the path to heaven,

and bring you home again.

Our family chain is broken,

and nothing seems the same.

But as God calls us one by one,

                                                              the chain will link again.

Vicky Holder

For Kyler

June 17, 2011 - November 21, 2014

Help Facilitate Fun Family Activities That Promote Nutritional Eating

Location: Coppin Community Center

Date: Sunday, June 08, 2014; 1:30-5:00 pm

The title for the project is a mouthful and we have Wilson to thank for that.  He had posted this on a Meetup and his strategy is to try and incorporate as much information about the project as possible into the title itself!  Wilson told me that although most of the work would be done by ‘Americorp’ volunteers, they also needed some additional volunteers to help out.  This is where I came in.  The place was in the South Side and it took me some time to get there.  While enroute, I saw through the website that many people were dropping out.  Yeah, I guess they would probably need me.

The decorations

I entered a big hall and found the volunteer coordinator Alyssa, who I had met at Wilson’s Mother’s Day Brunch project.  The ‘Americorp’ group was in the process of setting up and Alyssa said that they could use some help with the balloons.  To my relief, the said balloons had already been inflated and they just needed to be put up on the walls. We put some up on the railings leading to the entrance and then some on the walls in the lobby and then inside the hall where the event was to be held.  Alyssa mentioned that the program today was geared towards promoting nutrition for kids and there were several tables that had been specifically designed for that – such as a food trivia quiz, a brilliant poster with the nutritional information usually found on food labels, and a chart on daily calorific intake.  I asked Alyssa what I could do and she said that I could help with face painting.  Well, that wasn’t going to happen unless the kids wanted to end up in tears. 

My contraption

I walked about and saw that the trivia boards needed some help in standing up straight.  I worked with some of the ‘Americorp’ team to get that stabilized on the tables.  I actually came up with an idea to put a pin on the top of the board and tie with a string to hold tension, followed by the ever reliable duct tape.  And it worked.  Something I designed actually worked!  With that monumental achievement done, I helped put some posters while chatting with the young volunteers.  They were from all over the country and currently based in Iowa, but travel from place to place helping people and organizations such as these.  They have been in Chicago since May, though their tour over here would be over by the end of the week.  I was also surprised to learn that they had served as “roadies” at ‘Serve-a-thon’ yesterday.  I must have walked past them in my mad rush to get to the food and drinks inside the Leader’s tent! 

I was beginning to wonder where Wilson was, just as he walked in with the food supplies.  There was still some cooking left to be done and I said that I could help out in the kitchen.  Alyssa said that we had to make a salad and I said that I could take ownership of that.  The first ingredient I looked at was Avocado’s, but all of them had gone bad and could not be used.  So I started by chopping some mushrooms and garlic and sautéing them.  Then I made a dressing with vinegar, oil and honey – something that I had never done for myself.  In the meanwhile, kids had arrived outside and one little girl came inside the kitchen to see what we were up to.  I gave her a taste of the dressing and asked for feedback.  She said that I should add some garlic flakes and lemon and so I sent her to get lemon wedges from the lemonade stand outside.  She did so and after adding a bit of each of her suggested ingredients, she voiced her approval and the dressing was done!  Alyssa chopped some lettuce and added radishes and strawberries. 

While we were doing that, Alyssa told me about her volunteer duties at the center.  It says on their website, “We provide community development and supportive services that address social and academic needs of low income and vulnerable children and families.  We were founded in 2006. We aim primarily to address both citywide and statewide needs for affordable housing and homelessness services, education, after-school and out-of-school time programming, environmental and community wide building workshops, and health and wellness services for children and families.”  As a part of this, they run a food pantry every Monday and one of Alyssa’s duties is to organize that, including coordination of food donations and distribution. 

My dressing was a big hit!

We took the salad outside, along with the dressing and the mushrooms and put it next to the other items such as health bars.  Alyssa has said that we should leave mushrooms separate and the guests could add if required.  I looked around and the festivities were well and truly on with kids playing hula-hoops, some ring toss like game and some general running around.  I went around and tried my luck at the “guess the food by touching” game as well as the trivia game – the boards were still standing! I returned back to the salad station and saw that the dressing had been a big hit - so much so that I had to go back inside the kitchen to make some more.  I told the little girl who had helped me with the ingredients and the mixing that she could claim some of the credit. 

The party was over and I helped the ‘Americorp’ volunteers rearrange the furniture and then took the garbage out with Alyssa.  She told me that ‘Coppin’ would be walking in the upcoming ‘Hunger Walk’ and I promised that I would walk with her and the team.  I left after making new friends and as I walked through the lobby, I saw the ‘Americorp’ volunteers all dressed up to go out for the evening - one of the last few that they had remaining in Chicago.  They had earned this time of leisure for sure.

Serve-A-Thon 2014

Location: Elizabeth Woods Apartment

Date: Saturday, June 07, 2014; 8:00 am-1:00 pm

Chicago Cares started the process of identifying ‘Primary Leaders’ for ‘Serve-a-thon 2014’ very early this year and had reached out months ago asking for my interest and site preference.  I immediately said that I would prefer a project at a ‘Senior Center’, hoping to get the same location as last year.  However, they appointed me to another location and also cut the leaders under me to 1 instead of 2.  I asked both of my leaders from last year and while Claire said that she couldn't do it, Alisa agreed – which worked out well since they needed just 1 anyways.  A few days prior to the event, we had a conference call for the Primary Leaders, where the President of Chicago Cares emphasized our role for this year, especially promoting the key words, “Empower”, “Engage” and “Educate”.  Furthermore, this year a huge emphasis was going to be real time social media outreach.  Since I am far from an active participant in social media, I wasn’t sure how that was going to play out for my site.  Alisa and I had another conference call with our Chicago Cares Staff contact for our site, where we went over the project and our role on the day of.  We were scheduled to get 25 volunteers and looking at our duties – which were breakfast and Bingo - that appeared to be too many.  However we were told that we would need all of them and so be it.

They were ready for us

On Saturday morning I took a cab to the site and was shown to the community room where we would host our guests.  The lobby of the building, leading up to the entrance to this room was scheduled to be painted and I thought that this was poor timing for the management to have it today.  Soon Alisa arrived as well as our site representative Starr, with whom I had worked at One Brick’s Thanksgiving project for seniors last fall.  She had been fantastic back then and so I knew we would be fine today.  Starr let us inside the kitchen and I saw that there was a giant box from Chicago Cares waiting for us.  We took inventory and decided that while Alisa would be in charge of the kitchen, I would help with the outside.  There were several Bingo prizes and decorations and Starr said that if we handed out all of the prizes, we would be there till the evening.  So we decided not to display all of the prizes and the remaining ones could be utilized for the regular Chicago Cares project over here. 

'Flowers"

Our volunteers were supposed to arrive by 9:30 am, but 3 women showed up beforehand and said that they wanted to leave early to attend a colleague’s funeral.  I appreciated the fact that they wanted to honor their commitment, while also paying their respects to their colleague.  They were from ‘Habitat’, a company that manages many properties in Chicago for low-income seniors, including the one where we were at.  I assigned them to decorations and they got down to putting up streamers and balloons, with some artistic thought being put into the color schemes.  For example, I had asked them to put the serving utensils inside napkins and they started mixing colors by inserting yellow knives and forks in green napkins and vice versa.  One of them even started making flowers out of the colored tissue paper.  Volunteer’s like these definitely make my job easy!

As we were doing these, the rest of the ‘Habitat’ team of volunteers arrived, led by none other than their 'Vice President'.  I gathered everyone and gave them the welcome speech that had been provided by Chicago Cares.  It was to emphasize the significance of this day, get them excited and then assign duties.  Alisa and Starr also chimed in and finally I asked them to remove their ‘Smartphones’ and start posting either on ‘Facebook’ or ‘Twitter’.  I was doing my bit by posting pictures every now and then and Chicago Cares was responding through by marking it as “favorite”.  Yep, that’s social media presence for you.

Alisa took her kitchen crew inside and I got the rest to decorate the remainder of the room and prepare for Bingo.  I mingled with our volunteers and spoke with several of them and since they were already a part of a company working with seniors, it wasn’t too difficult to communicate the importance of what we were doing.  It was time for the seniors to start arriving, but we were not getting the “rush” that we were anticipating.  Starr took a few volunteers with her on a recruitment mission, but we only managed to get half of the 80 residents in the community.  Well, whatever the number, we owed them a great experience and so I asked the volunteers to mingle with the guests.  We started by serving juice and coffee and then it was time for breakfast – which was the traditional bacon and eggs.  The volunteers were efficient in their serving and soon everyone had been fed.

Bingo prizes

We also started handing out Bingo cards and some people refused them, saying that they did not want to play though they would be more than happy to stick around.  Some ladies called me over and asked for a card with their lucky numbers and I found it for them.  We were all set and the 'Regional Manager' of the company had told me from the beginning that she wanted to call the game.  Based on her enthusiasm, she was the perfect person for this task and even I got scolded twice for chatting loudly! It's always interesting to see how the residents pick prizes and the most popular ones for today were detergents, towels and air fresheners; not so much the pill organizers.  Around 11:45 am we were out of the prizes on display, though there were several still in the box.  I said that we should do a final coverall Bingo for 3 prizes and selected the 3 most popular ones.  Soon we had our winners, but a lady came forward saying that a number had never been called throughout the game and see if it was missing from the Bingo balls that we had.  A quick investigation proved that she was right and since that number had been on her card, I gave her a consolation prize. 

The residents left and then all of us volunteers sat down family style for lunch eating from the sandwich boxes that had been delivered by Chicago Cares.  I chatted with some of the volunteers near me and learned that there was a married couple in the group, as well as a lady who had traveled 90 minutes from the suburbs to be here on a Saturday.  After lunch we did a reflection session where I thanked them for their service and Alisa spoke about the importance of volunteer experience at such events, since many are perhaps volunteering for the first time and we want to ensure that they have a good time.  We all thanked them and the VP of the company shook his head and said that it was us who needed to be thanked for giving this day to the residents. 

Another successful year

It was time for the volunteers to leave, but there was an issue since the bus that was supposed to wait had left!  We were waiting outside and I was on the phone with Chicago Cares who had to scramble to get us another one.  Eventually our ride arrived and it was a minor glitch on what had otherwise had been a perfect day.  We had no other issues, which was very different from all the hiccups of last year.  I rode the bus to ‘Daley Plaza’ and met with the Chicago Cares staff as well as some of the other leaders. We chatted about the experiences each of us had today and unanimously everyone said that it had been a terrific day.  I stayed there till 4 pm and then left just as the party was getting into full swing.  Thus ended another year of ‘Serve-a-thon’.  And like fine wine, it keeps getting better.

Adler Astro-Overnight

Location: Adler Planetarium

Date: Friday, June 06, 2014; 5:00-10:00 pm

Another Adler visit

During the school year, Adler opens its doors to kids for a night of camping inside the museum.  It is one of the most sought out events and rightfully so.  There was nothing like this while I was growing up and if there had been something, I would have been all over it.  They needed ‘Education Hosts’ to help out during the early part of the evening and I signed up readily. Teaching science to little kids - what could go wrong!  I arrived and after checking in went to the conference room where other volunteers and staff had assembled.  I chatted with couple of volunteers who were managing the telescopes and they were quite experienced at it, with one of them having done this for over 10 years.  I asked them what the coolest thing was that they had seen and while I would have settled for the moon, they talked about some nebulae!  Yeah, I was a novice over here in more ways than one.

Michael told us that there were several activities that had been planned for the kids coming in this evening.  We were expecting about 451 guests – almost all of them kids; in fact girls - and they were split into 4 teams, “Venus”, “Mars”, “Jupiter” and “Saturn”.  Nothing like a bit of competition to keep kids engaged.  Most of them were between 6-10 years of age and if they finished 5 activities and got a check mark for that in their booklet, they got a “certificate of completion”.  Michael said that our biggest challenge was preventing the dad from taking over.  He then started assigning duties for the 4 stations that we had and by far the most popular was something called “Star Gazing”.  Everyone wanted that and Michael assigned 2 volunteers to that one.  The other stations were, “Rocket Launchers”, “Egg Landing” and “Robot Arm”.  Michael said that I was with him.  

An "Egg Lander!"

We started doing the rounds of all 4 stations by first visiting the popular “Star Gazing” station, where we were making an “astro chart”.  Michael asked me when my birthday was and I said that it was next week!  Then he asked me to pick the time of day and after that we aligned the chart to see which Constellations were visible at that time from Chicago’s latitude.  For the first time I learned that my birth constellation, “Gemini”, is not visible because the sun was over then at that time.  Hence we call it “The sun sign”.  Wow, I didn't know that.  We continued to the “Robotic Arm”, which was set up in a room and we were building “an arm” using two cardboard strips, string and pin hooks.  Michael said that he had seen kids make some interesting designs with just these basic components.  There was also a real robotic arm here, which we had kept at the back; else kids would only play with that.  Next we visited the “Planet Explorer’s” section where the “Rocket Launcher” experiment had been set up.  This was the same project that we had done in our boot camp, and over here the kids would be sending balloon rockets to the ceiling.  Final project was “Egg Landing”, which was in the small room next to the gift shop and over here we were simulating the landing of the shuttle on Mars – with bubbles all around to protect against impact from the fall.  The idea was for the kids to build something similar to protect an egg in a cup, and which would subsequently be dropped from the top of a ladder!

I was now on my own and the first stop was the "Robotic Arm".  There was another volunteer in there and she said that she had been doing these ‘Astro Overnight’s’ for a while.  Soon 3 little girls came in with their chaperon and were quite excited when we told them what they would be building.  One of the girls was all business and very smart.  She was on the top of her game, as were the others.  The did not require any coaching and just as things were getting interesting, Michael came and got me for my next posting at “Rocket Launcher”.  There was a big crowd over here and we had 4 strings, meaning 4 groups of people could be doing the project at the same time.  I took over one area and boy was it popular!  All the kids were lining up to make balloons and they were actually “thinking” about how they were going to do this.  Some would start to tie a knot in the balloon and then stop and think that they actually required the opening for the thrust.  Once we were ready to go, I would lead the countdown and we would cheer when the rocket was released.  We soon ran out of the round balloons and so had to open a pack of long balloons, meaning that they weren't making good rockets.  I made some adjustments by supporting them with straws and soon we were able to get them to slide smoothly.

After a mad rush many kids went for shows and so Michael posted me at “Egg Landing”.  A lot of girls were already engaged in designing safe landing equipment for their astronaut – the egg.  There was a ladder and one volunteer was stationed on top, dropping the contraptions down into a tray filled with flour like stuff – to resemble a planet’s surface.  At first the girls started with a plastic egg and after testing their theory, were allowed to move to the real one.  I relived the volunteer on the ladder and climbed up to be the “egg dropper”.  For the next hour little girls would come with all sorts of designs for their “lander” and I would count down and then drop into the pan below.  The girls would then excitedly check see if their astronaut had survived and would be delighted if that was true.  Oh gravity.  What would we do without you!  The designs were interesting with things like all sided balloons, parachutes, two cups filled with padding, something like a hot air balloon etc.  Surprisingly many eggs survived, even though one girl was determined to crack her egg and was disappointed when it kept surviving!

Standing precariously on the rung of a ladder was tiring, but I had a blast doing it, being encouraged by the limitless enthusiasm of the kids.  Michael next posted me at the “Star Gazer”, where I worked with a father-daughter pair and I amazed them with the little tidbit that I had learnt regarding the “Sun Signs” earlier in the evening.  I then went upstairs and sat at a table where the kids would eventually come to show that they had completed their tasks and get their “certificate of completion”, which was really a stamp on their book.  I was to then give them a form for a scavenger hunt of the museum.  Some kids came in and I asked them about their favorite task before giving them a stamp and saying that they had graduated.  Then I would send them on their scavenger hunt where one of the questions was, “If you met an alien, what would you say to them?”  That usually got them thinking.

My time was up and Michael asked if I wanted to stay and watch ‘Star Wars’ on the big screen inside their auditorium.  Normally I would have jumped at an opportunity to do so with this team, but I had a busy day coming up and so I left.  It had been a fantastic evening with the little girls who were some of the most enthusiastic creatures that I had seen.  It completely debunked any misconception people may have that only boys liked Physics and Astronomy.  These girls had been curious and hands-on…and had definitely taught me a thing or two.

Read–With-Me At HGS

Location: House Of The Good Shepherd

Date: Tuesday, June 03, 2014; 6:30-7:45 pm

I signed up to read with the older kids this evening, having had my fill of the screaming younger kids when I was here last.  I arrived at HGS to see that both of the volunteers groups were assembled in the lobby.  Soon our Volunteer leader Diane led us downstairs to the reading room and we were removing the crates of books from the closet when the kids burst in.  They were full of energy and the little boy with whom I had worked in the past immediately ran up to me.  In this project it’s the kids who select the adults that they want to read with and more often than not I had found myself being the odd person left out…but not this evening.  Take that other volunteers!

Yep, we read this one

We picked some books - all at random – and proceeded towards the seating area.  However, instead of sitting on a couch, he decided to lie down on his back on the rug and read the books as one would at leisure.  I decided to join him and so while the other volunteers were still pairing up, me and my kid were already underway…and relaxed as well!  Well, when I say that we were underway, it meant that he was not really reading, but pointing at the pages and I was trying to keep him interested.  The first book was on alphabets and objects associated with them and while he was repeating the alphabets, he wasn’t paying attention to anything else.  Next, we moved to a book which was about some animals going to a science fair and someone who looked like a Bear, getting carried away by a hot air balloon.  The rest of the animals chase him in a boat and recover the balloon in time for the science fair, with the balloon ending up as the winner…a typical Hollywood ending!  Once again, my kid was kind of interested, but wasn’t paying attention.

My kid was now interested in another kids book and I told him that he could have it once they were finished.  Once the other kid did, they offered it to us and I asked my kid to say “Thank you”.  The book was called “Disney’s From Whales To Snails” and he was intrigued and reading it by himself.  I asked what I should do and he gave me the alphabet book from earlier.  I said that I had read it and he said “Read it again!”  This continued till I had read it 4 times and he could have quizzed me on every page. Some of the volunteers had no kids to work with and were just hanging around, including Wilson, who had just arrived. I invited one such volunteer to join us and my kid was paying more attention to her as she read.  Well, I couldn't blame him for that!  A little girl came over to sit with us and she was reading a book called ‘What Dinosaurs Eat’.  There was a cat in there – hopefully not as a food source for the said Dinosaur – and she said that she likes cats and proceeded to name this one “Daisy”.  Man, I love kids with imagination. 

Now those are some cool glasses!

Our reading time was up and we next moved to the ‘Arts & Crafts’ portion of the evening.  There were multicolored pipe cleaners and we were to use them to make various designs.  I picked up a few and twisted them together till it resembled a psychedelic rainbow tied in knots.  My kid took it and put it around his wrist.  Another kid nearby was looking at this and I told him to make a similar bracelet for the volunteer who was working with him, and then give it to her as “Thank you”.  He did that and then proceeded to make many such bracelets for all the females there – volunteers as well as other girls.  Well, seems like someone's getting an early start!  I looked around and saw another kid who was wearing multi-colored pipe cleaner glasses that would have made Elton John proud!  Now all of  the kids wanted them and for the rest of the evening that’s what we did.  It was soon time to leave and I walked out thinking that every time I come here, I leave in great spirits.  Tonight was no exception. 

Lunch At People’s City Mission

Location: Lincoln, Nebraska

Date: Saturday, May 31, 2014; 9:00 am-12:30 pm

A few years ago, I had never imagined that there would be any reason for me to go to Lincoln, Nebraska.  It’s not as if the city is known for its “Broadway Shows” or sprawling skyline.  But things change and I met a friend who calls it home, and I made a promise to someday visit with them.  However, at the risk of repeating the same phrase; things change.  But a promise is a promise, even if it meant that I would have to make another one of my trips by myself.  Well, maybe some things remain the same.  I have volunteered at places outside of Chicago before, like the breakfast project at Hartford last Christmas and my visit to Boston for the marathon.  I wanted to do the same while in Lincoln, because it was something my friend would have appreciated.  So I looked online and found ‘People’s City Mission’.  On their website they said, “Our mission is to be a witness for Christ among the poor and homeless, serve their needs, and advocate their cause to the community at large.”  This was definitely something I could respect and so I wrote to them, saying that I would be in the city and would be honored to come and help in any capacity that I could.  I heard back from the volunteer coordinator Michele and she welcomed my request.  After a few email exchanges, we settled on me coming to help with the lunch service on Saturday morning from 9 am to noon.

It was a strange location

After exploring a bit of the Saturday street market, I made my way to the location, once again trusting my ‘GPS’.  As I walked towards my destination, the roads became unpaved and it looked like I was entering an abandoned industrial park.  I was questioning if I was in the right place, when I saw a sign for the mission.  I went inside and checked-in with the lady at reception, who asked me what duty I was reporting for.  It seems like there were several tasks associated with the lunch service and in order to send me to the right place, I had to be more precise.  Michele wasn’t in, so I just said that I was supposed to be in the kitchen.  She took me inside and introduced me to a gentleman named Randy, who was in charge and was expecting me.  I washed up and after putting on my apron, hairnet and gloves, I was introduced to a good-natured young man James, who would be directing me today.

The first task he allocated was cutting sweet potatoes and for that purpose, presented me with a selection of knives to choose from.  Now, there are chefs for whom a perfectly balanced knife is critical, but I am not one of them.  I picked one and was then directed to a giant sink, into which he poured a huge box of sweet potatoes and immersed them in water.  I was to extract them one at a time, remove any strings that were attached, chop off the ends and then cut into two pieces.  If the potato was bigger, then I was to cut along the length as well.  I hate estimations and I knew that at the end of this exercise, I would be lucky to have two pieces of the same size!  They needed 3 big pans filled with the potatoes and for the next 90 minutes, that’s exactly what I did.

My sweet potatoes

Randy reminded me a lot of Keith from ‘Wells Street Café’ in a way that while he would appear to be whimsical at times, he was in complete control of the kitchen.  He asked me about how I had gotten involved and I told him about my history with Chicago Cares.  He then told me about the place I was at.  Opened in 1907, ‘People’s Mission’ is a shelter for men, women and children in transition and they can stay there for however long it took for them to land on their feet.  It is one of the only 3 such facilities in the nation and is not government funded, since their chairman does not want government micromanaging their activities.  Randy said that he treats the guests as you would treat any other guest and in fact served them “Prime Rib” the previous week.  He really was Keith of this place and I mentioned about Keith’s speech at the beginning of each service on how to treat our guests.  Randy told me how they recycle everything and how nothing is wasted.  People donate a lot of things to the mission, including cars, which the guests can use as per their need.  He mentioned that residents usually do chores around the mission while they look for jobs.  He said that he had seen some outstanding young men who had been prior residents, now giving back to the mission and that was the true measure of the program’s success.  I asked about the menu for today and he said that Saturday’s lunch was usually leftovers.  The sweet potatoes that I was chopping were for dinner, where they would accompany “Baked Ham”.  So there was no rush for me to be done, which was good since I was the only kitchen helper this morning, with a few “no-shows”.  I looked around and saw through some pictures and comments that Randy was well liked over here, and he deserved it too.

And my tomatoes

I was finally done with 3 pans of sweet potatoes and the next job was to slice tomatoes. They were of different types and sizes and while I was slicing them in discs, James asked me to save the tops which have the stems in them and something that I usually discard.  I tried to be consistent with my discs, but let’s face it, that was a stretch.  I went through a lot of tomatoes and it was a miracle that I had gotten this far without an accident!  Next, James told me to take all the tops that we had saved and to work around the stems and dice the edible part.  They truly use everything here and based on the amount that I eventually collected, I could see why.  I had filled up half a container with parts of tomatoes which I would have thrown out.  Now they were going into a meal.  Life lessons are everywhere, waiting to be learnt.

It was getting close to lunch time and other volunteers had started filtering in.  They were to be the servers and I could see through their banter with Randy that they were regulars over here. The dining area was getting filled with families and I could see a lot of kids.  I was done with my tomatoes and so I walked into the dining area to see that it was a similar “café style” setup like the few that I have seen in Chicago.  The only difference was that in this case the guests walked over to the serving stations and were served, rather that plates being brought to them.  The merits of this system are that people get what they want and there is minimum wastage. 

It was time for me to be on my way and Randy offered for me to eat with the other volunteers.  I said that I couldn't stay and he shook my hand and thanked me for coming.  I wished him and James luck and told them that if I was ever back in town, I would stop by.  I had worked hard on this one and had been on my feet without a break for over 3 and half hours.  But I liked it.  I liked the fact that they do not offer special privileges to volunteers, let alone visiting ones.  I had been treated like one of them and there is no greater compliment than that.  I would be leaving Lincoln a far better …more knowledgeable person, than the one who had come here to fulfill a promise.

Adler After Dark

Location: Adler Planetarium

Date: Thursday, May 15, 2014; 5:00-10:00 pm

Finally, it was here, my first ‘After Dark’ event.  I arrived around 5 pm and ran into Michael as I made my way downstairs to the staff area and he introduced me to other volunteers and staff members as we passed them.  I clocked in and received my t-shirt from Natalie, as well as a dinner coupon.  Michael also gave me a binder, which had a handbook and descriptions of a couple of floor experiments that I would be assisting with.  Armed with all of this, I went upstairs to the classroom where pizza was being served.  I chatted with another volunteer Carrie, who works at ‘Greater Chicago Food Depository’ and we talked about the upcoming ‘Hunger Walk’, an event that I had participated in last year.  Michael came and grabbed me and another volunteer for our first duty of the evening – registration.

The main task was to collect tickets and put on the dreaded wrist band, something for which I have no skill.  We were to do all of this while introducing the evening’s activities, including the new show “Destination Solar System” – I had seen a preview of that – and encourage the guests to play the ‘Bingo’ game.  Throughout the evening, there were many activities that they could participate in and collect stickers for the squares on their card.  I sat down with other registration volunteers and the guests started coming in.  As usual, I struggled to put the wristbands on, though I was engaging the guests in banter.  I asked everyone if it was their first time here – as it was for many – and for those guests, I welcomed them and gave a map for reference.  I would complement that by saying that if they got lost, we would send out a search party after 4 years or so and would then offer them a job, since by that time they would be the experts on the museum!  If any of the guests had been here before, I would tell them that most of the activities were for one night only and so this would be a brand new experience for them.  If anyone said that they had not been here for a long time, I would say “Oh, so last time that you were here, Pluto was still a planet.”  Man, the things I do for a cheap laugh!

Which is your favorite planet?

For the ‘Bingo’ game, we were getting the guests started by giving them a sticker in exchange for them telling us about their favorite planet and why it was so.  Everyone enjoyed this and I got hundreds of responses.  Some said that it was “Earth”, because it was the only planet that they had seen; and to which I would reply, “Yet!”  I would also point out that they were offering one way ticket to Mars.  Some said that it was “Venus” because it “sounded good”, whereas some said that it was “Mercury”, because it was closest to the Sun.  If people said “Mars”, because it was red, I would respond by saying, “that’s what everyone keeps telling me”.  Many said “Jupiter”, because of the giant red spot and I would ask them how many Earth’s could fit in it.  One of the most popular choices was “Saturn”, due to its rings.  I would tell them to enjoy them while they could, since they would be disappearing in a few million years.  As expected, “Uranus” was another popular one and when I asked why, people would grin sheepishly and say it was because of the way it sounded; to which I would respond, “Oh, I thought it was because of its tilt”.  Some said that it was “Neptune” because it was blue, while many said it was “Pluto”, no matter what the astronomers said.  I told them that I would credit them if they convinced me why it should still be a planet. Some said because it was part of their childhood while one girl said she spent time studying it in school and she would be damned if she gave up on it.  One even said that it was because it's ‘Mickeys’ dog, which would lead to a discussion on why ‘Pluto’ was a pet while ‘Goofy’ – who was also a dog, wasn’t.  I had a great time doing this and even sent some folks to the Solar System section of the museum, saying that I would find them later in the evening for a pop quiz. 

After couple of hours Michael came to fetch me and along with another new volunteer Don, continued my orientation by walking about the museum and pointing out interesting tidbits that we could tell our guests.  A visiting couple was looking at the ‘Gemini’ capsule and Michael did just enough to peak their curiosity, while leaving them to learn more by themselves.  This was a solid concept which he had been trying to teach us earlier – “Don’t be a sage on a stage, but a guide on the side”.  The party was well and truly on and Michael took us through the back corridors of the museum to where the experiment carts are stored.  This is where we could come to take and return one of these if we were responsible for that experiment.  Saw a volunteer doing “pocket science” with meteorites and he showed us how to engage people with statements such as, “Would you like to touch a shooting star “and “What is the oldest thing that you have touched?” 

We found the “UV Cart” and saw Michael in action as he engaged a visitor and let him do the entire experiment “hands-on”, while providing subtle hints on what he should be doing.  He then gave me my schedule for the rest of the evening and I was supposed to shadow Carrie from 8-9 at the “vacuum tube experiment”.  She is as good as Michael and I saw her engage the crowd as she demonstrated how various props perform in vacuum – balloon, alarm clock, water, shaving cream etc.  There was a huge crowd and they were enjoying watching interesting things happen to these objects under the vacuum cylinder. 

With no cell phones allowed on the floor and me forgetting my wrist watch, I was latte for my 9-10 and Michael had to come get me.  I was paired with a veteran volunteer Bob at the ‘Bingo’ prizes table.  People came and turned in their completed cards and choose between a reusable bag or a shot class with zodiac signs.  Unfortunately we were out of several signs like ‘Gemini’ or ‘Libra’ and I was telling guests that it was because people born under that sign are smart enough to come for this event and thus our shortage!  I saw a group to whom I had given the assignment to find out more about their favorite planet and asked them to report if they wanted their prize.  It was all in fun and we made sure that none left empty-handed.  It is amazing how a simple thing like this excites people and just goes to reinforce my belief that people love presents or prizes, no matter how humble.

At 10 pm Michael came and told me that my shift was over and that I could leave.  I went and collected my things at the locker, amazed at how fast the last few hours had seemed to pass.  It had been a terrific first experience and I had been glad to receive some “on-the-job” training.  I was definitely looking forward to my next event over here.