Just For Starters Bingo

Location: The Imperial Nursing Home

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2015; 6:30-7:45 pm

I was running late this evening and so jumped in a cab, only to get stuck in traffic.  After a discussion with the driver on the rush hour traffic in Chicago, I still arrived ahead of time.  I saw that besides 2 new volunteers there was someone whom I had seen during my previous visit here.  I was checking my messages on the phone and the new volunteers were on their devices as well.  The lady who was a veteran here said that we should all live without phones for a month.  I said that it would work as long as there were no questions asked of me!  The availability of internet nowadays has allowed everyone to be connected all the time and so we were discussing how people are looking of good shopping deals all the time.  One volunteer said that they would be scared to even move away from a webpage lest they lose out!

At Imperial again

Our Volunteer leader Celene arrived and said that while she talked to the new volunteers, the rest of us could go inside.  As I entered the lovely activity room, I saw that Polly was sharing a table with Josie.  Polly seemed to recognize me since she said that it had been a long time.  I joined them and asked what was new with them and they said nothing much.  I said same here.  The wheelchair of one of the residents behind Josie kept bumping into her chair. I guess this must have annoyed Josie since she just left.  Polly said that she was being harassed and despite Celene chasing her, Josie took the elevator upstairs.  Just another day at Imperial hunger games I guess.

With Josie leaving, we were joined by another resident Alice and her daughter Annette.  We learned that Alice had just moved in yesterday and so it was her first time at Bingo here.  She was a jovial person and so I knew that we would have a great time.  Polly told me to make sure she didn't miss her numbers, but she was doing well for herself, putting her Bingo coins down with confidence.  I praised Polly’s scarf and she said that she had received it 3 years ago at Christmas.  She mentioned having relatives in DC - a couple of nieces.  I asked if they worked for the Government and she said yes, as had she for the Post Office.  I remembered her having mentioned that before.  I love these sessions at Bingo where you get to learn about the resident’s lives.

As people started winning, I saw that amongst the prizes were stuffed animals, which Polly likes and was staring at with intent.  She did indeed win and proclaimed “Bingo” with confidence.  As Celene came with prizes I said that Polly wants a stuffed animal, though Celene tried to offer her a plush flower.  Sure enough, Polly took a bunny; right in time for ‘Easter’.  The game continued and people were winning while poor Alice had no luck.  I told her to try things like flipping cards, which she did, and using different colored chips.  Even then, she refused to exchange cards with me, and even moved to a single, "lucky card". I really liked her a lot

Finally, Annette won and asked Alice to choose, and she took green ‘St. Patrick’s Day’ towels.  I wasn’t having any luck, though Polly was on a roll.  She won again and took another bunny.  Almost all residents won, including a lady sitting on table next to us who yelled “BINGO” in a very stylish way!  In the final lightening round I finally won and asked Alice to choose, wherein she took a spectacles case.  Polly asked me to tie the bag of her presents to the back of her chair and I asked if she wanted me to drop her upstairs. She said yes and so I wheeled her to the elevator, where she asked me to turn her around and not face the back.  I could understand that.  Alice was also in our elevator and Polly asked if she would come down for the next Bingo night.  It looked like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  I dropped Polly off and left.  It had been a rough day at work and someone had even questioned my motivations as relates to team-building.  After an evening like this, I could care less.

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy

Read–With-Me At HGS

Location: House Of The Good Shepherd

Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2015; 6:30-7:45 pm

As with most of my recent Chicago Cares projects, I had not been here for a long time.  After the usual walk from the train station I arrived at the site and went inside where Emily, who was the Volunteer leader, passed me the volunteer waiver sheet.  It was her first time leading and so I was pleased to see that she was doing the right thing in terms of the process.  I saw that some of the regulars had signed up, such as Fran and Marvin.  In fact everyone who had signed up seemed to be a veteran here.  This always helps at this place where above everything else, the kids require continuity.

We went downstairs and several kids had already assembled.  They wanted to help carry the books from the cupboard to the table, no matter that those crates are heavy.  The managed to get it up to the table but being short in height, couldn't get it all the way up.  Emily got all of us to stand in a circle for introductions and to state our favorite thing about spring.  People said things like the “warmth from the sun” and “playtime”, to “March Madness”.  I said that I liked the fact that it was going to get green outside.  Fran said it was the flowers as did one girl.  But the best response was by another little girl who said spring allowed her to wear pretty colorful dresses.  I said to Fran that there really was no contest after that answer.

One of his favorites

Emily asked the kids to pair up with the volunteers and Fran went with the little girl who had commented on the dress.  I asked a little boy if he wanted to read with me and he said sure.  We went to pick a book and he chose something on Farm animals.  It was like a pop-up book, but with movable pictures on a wheel.  The kid was very competent in his reading, and we were having fun with the book.  Once we were done with this one, he said that he wanted to read something called "Magic Tree House" books.  He seemed quite familiar with them and told me that they were about a boy and a girl and their adventures. We picked 2 from the series - one with a Mummy in a pyramid and another with a volcano.  He was excited about this series and kept telling me how he had enjoyed the one with a Gorilla.  I asked him to tell me the story but he kept going on about the volcano.  The 2 characters in the story always found themselves being transported to places in history through well…a magic tree house, and it was a fun thing to read for the kids.

We moved to the next book which asked the age old question, “Why did the Chicken cross the road”, which he said that he had read before, but was excited to read again.  It was a bunch of scenarios on why the Chicken would cross the road.  Some of the things in the book were a bit dark, with an oncoming car about to run over the Chicken and a section where many people, animals including Dinosaur were crossing a road, with the Dinosaur about to eat the Chicken.  But there were some funny areas as well, such as a city street with various Chicken, little Chicks and Chicken with eggs in strollers, as well as Chicken delivering pizza and some others shopping. And then there was a section with “Zombie Chicken” on Mars!  I don’t know if the question had been answered, but there sure was a lot of activity with Chicken in this one.

I asked him about his favorite animal and he said Dragon.  I said I hadn’t seen one and he said  that was because they lived millions of years ago.  I asked who would win between Dinosaur and Dragon and that got him thinking, while I pointed out that Dragons did have fire and could fly.  As we were debating this, Emily said it was time for an ‘Arts & Crafts’ activity.  We were making Butterflies using colored tissue paper and pipe cleaners.  Two different colored tissue papers were to be folded like an accordion and then tied with the pipe cleaner. Once the paper was spread open, it did indeed look like a butterfly.  My kid started cutting the 2 sheets of paper to make them of precise size and had to throw away a few.  I said that I would help him make one and we picked green and orange colored paper.  Since we were using twice as bigger paper, our Butterfly was huge and I said it looked like a mutant!  We made its antenna using pipe cleaner and the eyes using puff balls. 

He said that he wanted to make one for his mom and after the giant Butterfly that we had made, I used smaller paper to make this one.  Fran and her girl had made a beautiful Butterfly, which wasn’t surprising considering that the girl was artistically oriented.  Another kid had made two Butterflies and was flying them about, including over my ear.  He had even named them after his sisters, which I found to be incredibly sweet.  Our time was almost up and mom’s came to collect their kids.  My boy left with his mom and I told her that he had made the Butterfly for her.  Emily said that since all of us were regulars here, there was no need for her closing spiel.  Though I still don’t know why the Chicken crossed the road, it had still been a productive evening.

Bingo Fun At Britton Budd

Location: Britton/Budd Apartments

Date: Monday, March 09, 2015; 6:15 -7:30 pm

Amy, from Chicago Cares, sent a note saying that our Volunteer leader Veronica was sick and asked if I could lead.  I said I could as long as the prizes were already there, since I did not have the time to go shopping.  She said that she would drop them off earlier in the day.  I arrived to see another volunteer waiting at the front door and she introduced herself as Tammy, saying that this was her first project ever.  We went inside and checked-in with the security guard while I also picked up the Bingo supplies.  I was chatting with Tammy about Chicago Cares when other volunteers arrived, including a guy named Jason, who I had met somewhere but couldn't place. All in all we had 4 other volunteers besides me, but there were no prizes.

Everyone has a favorite colored board

That soon changed when Amy arrived with prizes and left after dropped them off.  There were 18 prizes and with 3 prizes per round, we could play 6 games. I asked the others if they wanted to call and both, Jason and Tammy said that they could do it.  I said that I would start off with 2 games, then hand over to Jason for two and Tammy could finish off with last two.  The residents came in started selecting the Bingo boards, going more for their favorite colors rather than the numbers.  We had finished setting up early and so I walked about chatting with the residents, including a lady Lizzy, who made sure she pronounced my name correctly.  I met another gentleman who was using his own Bingo cards and they were quite small.  I mentioned that to him, saying that he was very efficient with his space. One lady came and said that it was her first time playing Bingo here. She was eyeing the prizes and saw a winter hat that she liked. I said it was getting a bit warm for that and she said she didn't care. I picked it up and showed it to others saying that was going off the table first!

Finally, Elvina arrived with her pretty pink handbag.  I went to chat with her and mentioned that it was getting warm.  She said that if she had known she would have gone out with her puppy.  “Wearing a skirt”, I asked.   “Well you can't take everything off”, she replied. I laughed aloud and said yes, she should keep them guessing.  All the residents were asking for us to start and just I sat down to call, a lady walked in.  I said that we should wait for her and to their credit everyone was patient.  My shift as a caller went well, despite me spilling the balls a couple of times.  The lady who had come in last won and was followed by Elvina.  After 3 winners we started a new round and after that I handed over to Jason, joining the gentleman with his own cards and the lady who was playing for the first time. 

I chatted with the lady, asking if she was happy with her choice of bingo boards and she said yes, adding that she was going to win. I liked her spirit though her winter hat had already been claimed!  She did not win, though the gentleman at my table won for the second time.  While he could have kept the second prize, he gave it to the lady on our table. As she went to collect her prize, I told him that he was a gentleman.  After Jason was done with his 2 rounds, Tammy took over and she noticed that a table of ladies was repeating every number in Spanish.  So she started doing it and I said that it was the first time that I had heard a bilingual caller.  The lady at my table had said that Tammy would be lucky for her and indeed she was.  I won as well and gave my prize away to Lizzy. 

Our pace was fast and we were done 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  I chatted with some of the residents including two gentlemen who had been engaged in a good natured competition, because one of them was a ‘Cubs’ supporter and the other a ‘White Sox’.  I bid Elvina goodbye and told her to enjoy the weather tomorrow.  As with any project that I lead, I did a quick reflection with my volunteers and they did not have any suggestions for improvements, other than having more prizes.  It had been a successful session and I was glad to have had an opportunity to lead.

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy

Art Smart At Brunson

Location: Brunson (Milton) Math & Science Specialty Elementary School

Date: Saturday, March 07, 2015; 9:50 am-11:30 pm

It was almost a year since I had been on the familiar icy sidewalks leading to the school; though the weather was better this morning.  Sara had told us by email that there would be a ‘St Patrick's Day’ theme today and we would be making clay – from scratch - and eventually something called “Blarney Stones”, whatever those were.  I made my way to the classroom where we usually meet and I was the first to arrive.  Sara came soon thereafter and mentioned that there had been a change of administration at the school and they had not been doing a good job of informing the kids about this program; meaning that we may not get many today. 

It was an "Irish" theme

Other volunteers arrived and we helped Sara put tablecloths on the tables.  She said that getting tablecloths was the best idea she had, since we used to always cause a mess and had to scrub the tables.  We had 2 girls come in and they seemed friendly. I immediately hit it off with one of them and she was enthusiastic for the project.  Sara gave us a sheet on ‘St Patrick's Day’ and I asked the girls who wanted to start reading.  Both raised their hand and so we alternated, reading through the sheet. There we're a few words which they had trouble with, mostly names of places; which were mostly Irish! But all in all, they did a terrific job and by now we had been joined by another student.  I learned that “Blarney Stone” is a stone on some castle in Ireland that you kiss for luck. I said that the Irish have made luck a commercial endeavor, though it seems that they find it funny when visitors kiss the stone.  And no wonder, since the stone is considered to be one of the most unhygienic things on the planet. 

Now it was time to make clay and that included mixing flour, salt, corn starch and warm water.  We did not have any measuring cups, so we started winging it, meaning it would get messy.  For a while it did get sticky and it was all over our fingers.  The girl I was working with would hold up her fingers and I would scrape off the wet dough off her fingers with a spoon.  Many others had got their dough right and we kept adding more salt and corn starch.  As we worked, the girl kept chattering, but we finally got our dough done.  Sara had given us a cheat sheet of “Celtic” characters and I asked her to spell her name using those.  As she did that, she told me about her little sister.  Sara had also given us “scratch-off shamrocks” and she mounted her dough with her name in “Celtic” on it and then scratched a heart around it.  She really was a sweetheart.

This was all with homemade clay!

Others were making creative designs like a ‘Shamrock’ and one group was now collaborating on a pot of gold with coins in there, along with a ‘Leprechaun’ - a female one at that, with lipstick, skirt and heels; although I did say that she needed earrings.  My girl had finished her design and had started making a pot of gold, with gold coins, which she said would go to her sister.  Each of the gold coins was worth $1000 according to her.  The other group making the pot was now making a rainbow to go with it.  Time was almost up and my girl was pleased with all that she had made.  She took all the things and left happily saying her little sister would love this.  We cleaned up and left and I had enjoyed coming back.  Hopefully it wouldn’t be a long wait for the next time.