Freshman Marisa Campbell has made some unlikely new friends over the past few weeks ‘ foster children from around the area who, she says, just want to share their stories with someone.
On Saturdays throughout the school year, local foster children meet up with members of SUNY Kids, a group of Binghamton University students dedicated to helping alleviate the pressures of the children’s daily lives by providing them with fun weekly activities.
‘All these kids, they’re not shy to talk to you, they want to tell you their stories and they want to just pretty much have fun,’ Campbell, who has not declared a major, said. ‘It’s just a nice way to meet new people within the school and kind of reach out to the community, so it’s a fun organization ‘ I encourage a lot of people to do it.’
This weekend, volunteers from SUNY Kids worked with the Student Volunteer Center at BU to put on a carnival for the children, which included games, prizes, pizza, cotton candy and more.
The organization works with the Broome County Department of Social Services to take the children out and participate in events they wouldn’t normally have the chance to attend.
‘As SUNY Kids, our overall goal is to just give these kids a fun time every Saturday,’ said Jason Brown, co-director of SUNY Kids and a senior math major. ‘It’s basically just a fun day for them. We always take them on different trips and we were just trying to think of something different.’
Event organizers said the carnival, which consisted of about 15 activities for the children ‘ including face painting, Plinko, a dart game and a beanbag toss, among others ‘ was well-supported by both the on- and off-campus communities.
‘I think the most interesting thing about the event so far has been all the donations from the local businesses and the college councils,’ said Ross Sicherman, president of SVC and a senior financial economics and computer science major. ‘Everyone’s been really generous ‘ it’s just been absolutely great.’
While the community’s donations for the event have been great, volunteers say the experiences have been just as rewarding.
‘One of the kids once, his first trip, he came on the bus and he wouldn’t talk to anyone, he just kind of sat there and I just started talking to him,’ Brown said, shortly after calling out for popcorn and being swarmed by 16 screaming children.
‘And I kept asking him what his name was and he wouldn’t tell me his name ‘ eventually, I got him to smile and I got him to break out of his shell, and now he just, he loves me.’
Co-director Carolyn Gomez also finds the attachments between BU students and the children to be the most gratifying part of the being in the group.
‘We just thought that today would be so special if we could have them and if it could be totally about them, something so special for them,’ she said. ‘It’s very nice to have that special connection with them ‘ you really do form a bond with them.’
Senior psychology major Marc Vicino echoed Gomez’s sentiments.
‘At first they seem kind of antsy and they’re shy to warm up to you, but the first day one of the kids just sat next to me on the bus and everyday after that he’s been next to me,’ Vicino said.
And the children seem to equally enjoy the experience.
When asked what her favorite part of SUNY Kids is, one of the children said, ‘I wonder what’s going to happen [for each event] and there’s a lot of things going on.’