By Ken Kudick
On the afternoon of January 30, the fire siren rang out in
the small town of Eureka. Someone had called 911 to report smoke coming out of
the eaves of a house in town. Being a member of the volunteer fire department,
I rushed to the scene and was part of the team that went in a put out the fire –
just doing what we as a fire department do when we are needed.
It was later that I found out that the family in this house
was in the process of moving out, and that they didn’t have much to begin with.
There are three teenage daughters in this family and suddenly much of what they
did have was damaged by the fire.
Part of my job at Chrysalis is to lead Wednesday night
service activities. During the year we visit residents at our local nursing
home, help package food at the food pantry, do yard cleanup for elderly or disabled
families, and much more. I found myself presented with a new opportunity to
fill a need in our community. Over the next week several other staff members
and I made announcements that encouraged students to look through their
belongings and see if there was something they would be willing to donate to
the family whose belongings were damaged in the fire. When I went through all
the different items donated by both students and staff I ended with two pairs
of boots, a bottle of shampoo, a large trash liner filled with clothes, and a
suitcase full of clothes.
One of the things we hope to instill in the students at
Chrysalis is a positive idea of service. This might be a new or foreign concept
to some of the students, but it doesn’t take a long time in being here before
they begin to see what they can accomplish, and the experience of helping those
in need. Students who may have come with a negative attitude towards the idea of
taking time to help someone else suddenly find themselves excited to be going
to play bingo with residents at the nursing home, or writing letters to
soldiers overseas, or raking up leaves and pine needles in an elderly couple's
yard. As a staff it is very rewarding to see what and how much the students can
accomplish for this community and the willingness that the students present as
we go into another activity.
