Volunteering at Summer Camp Breakfast

As soon as you walk into Operation Shoestring at breakfast, all you hear is cheering. That’s the sound of our summer camp breakfast volunteers pumping up the campers for a full day of fun! “Groups will high five kids, get them excited for the day and set the tone for a great experience,” says  Tolanda Jones, the community mobilization director for Operation Shoestring. From dance routines to singalongs, mornings are never dull with our breakfast volunteers. 

First thing in the morning at summer camp, volunteers serve or prepare a light breakfast and offer a 10-15 minute activity or devotional for the campers. This opportunity to connect with kids in our neighborhood is consistently one of our volunteers’ favorite experiences during the summer. There’s something magical about starting your day off with children who are so excited to see you!  “Every year, we ask all the churches and small businesses within our network to come for breakfast to get to know our kids, and so our kids can get to know them,” says Tolanda Jones, the Community Mobilization director for Operation Shoestring. Volunteers typically prepare a devotional on character building and resiliency, or a practical lesson relating to their business like financial literacy. 

Volunteers help us do so many tasks in the morning. “These groups serve, help us teach, and clean up,” says Jones. She thinks that this program helps invigorate volunteers as well. “It’s usually like a pep rally. Groups pull out all the stops.” 

It usually takes at least seven volunteers a day to provide summer breakfast to our kids, and Operation Shoestring would like to thank our steadfast volunteers like those at TEC, St. Richard’s Catholic Church, Northminster Baptist Church, the Women’s Auxiliary Ministry at the New Hope Baptist Church, and We are One United Methodist Church. Because of them, Jones can rest assured that committed groups will be coming each morning to make an awesome positive difference for our kids and Shoestring. She gratefully observes that these volunteer groups also “do an excellent job!” We think our campers would say too.

To volunteer, email Tolanda Jones at volunteer@operationshoestring.org or fill out the form online at operationshoestring.org/volunteer. We’d love to have you be a part of this work!