I give large credit for my personal growth to my nieces and nephews. I have five in total. Two girls and three boys ranging from age 1 up to age 13. The impact that they’ve had on my life comes as a remembrance of what is important, to me, in life. Playfulness.
Playing moves our body, lights up our imagination, and energizes us. Within that are spontaneity and the ability to turn chaos into order and thus rules. Fair rules. It brings me joy to see them play and laugh. I feel a light-hearted sense of being alive and it reminds me, “Oh yeah. This is how it should be!”
In the most recent years, I have been able to guide athletes as their personal trainer. They too still have the sense of playfulness, but with a bit more structure towards the respective sport(s) they participate in. It provides them with guidance, character development, and good mentorship.
I met up with a woman from Chillicothe, Ohio named Erin Allsop. Erin is the director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Ohio. BBBS covers a total of five counties, including Fayette County. We connected through the volunteer work I serve as a board member for The United Way of Fayette County.
We got together to see how we could promote BBBS even more in our local county. I had noticed that while we had the organization within their jurisdiction, per se, I hadn’t grown any familiarity or heard of them around town.
Erin brought some information on specific programs that they offered to provide mentorship to youth in the community. Big Brothers Big Sisters is an opportunity for an adult volunteer (Bigs) to meet with local youth (Littles) for one-on-one outings and activities that ignite their potential to do great things.
Outings are planned based on the interests of both the Big and Little with input from the Little’s parent/guardian. Young adults who have a mentor are 55% more likely to enroll in college, 81% more likely to participate in extracurricular activities, and 31% more likely to hold a leadership position in a club, sports team, student council, or another group.
She also brought to my attention the 2022 Dance For Kids’ Sake event. This is their single largest fundraiser that is themed around the show “Dancing With The Stars,” where it pits hometown celebrities against each other in a fun and exciting dance competition.
Getting out of my comfort zone is a personal mission of mine as I am soon opening up a training studio, Horizon Athletic, in downtown Washington Court House. With the energy and direction I felt Erin was bringing to the community and a great cause, I decided to sign up for the event. Dancing would be a great way to ignite my own sense of playfulness.
Dance For Kids’ Sake is being held this Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Ross County fairgrounds. The dance routine is 90 seconds to the song “I Like to Move It” by Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman. So far to date, I have been able to raise $1,200 through friends, and family, as well as table sponsor Hi-Tech Electrical.
On the night of the event, celebrities will be able to earn donation “votes” from their dance during the showcase. So far, 75 tables have sold at eight people per table. It will be a packed event for a wonderful organization.
If you would like to contribute you can find out donation information, please reach out to 740-505-4622 or email me at [email protected].
