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