Carol asked us staff to write up some impact stories to share for our annual campaign. Here's mine:
Impact Story: Dylan
Dylan is a seven year old boy who has attended YMCA programming nearly every day
we have been open since I came to the Sioux YMCA 14 months ago. Like most little
boys, Dylan is full of energy—he never stands still and it is often hard to capture his
attention for long. Dylan was a fierce hater of vegetables. We caught him a few times
stuffing salad in his pockets at supper time, trying to trick us into thinking he had
cleaned his plate and give him seconds of the main dish. It was nearly impossible to get
him to try vegetables. This summer, the Sioux YMCA started a new program,
Onspewicakiyapi Wojupi [Learning Garden], which was incorporated into our Summer
Day Camp for an hour each day. The transformation in Dylan because of the garden
was amazing to see. He would run down ahead of the group to see what had changed
and in a litany of “Amanda! Amanda!”s would show me all the vegetables that were
growing. One day, Dylan proudly showed his father a “pumkin” that was growing. As
part of programming, I would cut broccoli or let the kids pick peas or beans and eat
them in the garden. Dylan tried the veggies and even asked for seconds. We eat
produce harvested from the garden in our supper program, and I no longer have to
bribe Dylan to eat his vegetables. I know that the YMCA means a lot to Dylan. The other
day he asked me if he could be a YMCA worker when he was older.
Impact Story: Dylan
Dylan is a seven year old boy who has attended YMCA programming nearly every day
we have been open since I came to the Sioux YMCA 14 months ago. Like most little
boys, Dylan is full of energy—he never stands still and it is often hard to capture his
attention for long. Dylan was a fierce hater of vegetables. We caught him a few times
stuffing salad in his pockets at supper time, trying to trick us into thinking he had
cleaned his plate and give him seconds of the main dish. It was nearly impossible to get
him to try vegetables. This summer, the Sioux YMCA started a new program,
Onspewicakiyapi Wojupi [Learning Garden], which was incorporated into our Summer
Day Camp for an hour each day. The transformation in Dylan because of the garden
was amazing to see. He would run down ahead of the group to see what had changed
and in a litany of “Amanda! Amanda!”s would show me all the vegetables that were
growing. One day, Dylan proudly showed his father a “pumkin” that was growing. As
part of programming, I would cut broccoli or let the kids pick peas or beans and eat
them in the garden. Dylan tried the veggies and even asked for seconds. We eat
produce harvested from the garden in our supper program, and I no longer have to
bribe Dylan to eat his vegetables. I know that the YMCA means a lot to Dylan. The other
day he asked me if he could be a YMCA worker when he was older.