I want to share an experience that I will never forget with y’all. February 11th was my second time attending the REC center in Selinsgrove and I have to say, my life has been changed immensely. I carpool with my friend Ally so most of the time we experience and see the same things or are asked to watch a group of children together. This particular time, we were asked to help a group of girls in the sixth grade with their homework. We were also asked to give the children tickets whenever they were helping another or being kind to someone because it was kindness week. As I was watching these children work together and struggle with their homework, I realized something. These children come from a background that isn’t as fortunate as many of us are. I know that for me, back home is way different than the Selinsgrove community. There is definitely a more prevalent issue of poverty here. However, despite these issues, I noticed how kind the children were being to each other and to myself, who they never met. One wouldn’t go on to the next problem if one of their friends wasn’t ready or needed extra help. They would make sure nobody had any questions and they were very polite and patient if one of them did. Here is a group of girls, who have a tough life, absent parents, as they told me, really working together to find a common answer. And although this may not seem to be that significant, in my eyes it was. It was an act of God’s love. They were really eliciting kindness towards each other and I realized that it didn’t matter how bad their lives were outside of the REC center, didn’t matter how many days it has been since they’ve seen their dad, didn’t matter how many tears they shed because they lived a life full of uncertainty, none of this mattered in this very moment. The only thing that was present was love. Kindness and love always wins in the end. I ended up giving them all “kindness tickets” and the amount of joy that they got from these tickets almost made me tear up. They were so happy and all hugged me. It was the sweetest thing. For a moment, I felt like their mother, somebody who they know would love them and cheer them on, somebody telling them they were proud of them. It was a moment I will never forget and will eternally be grateful for. It is not easy to see these children going through these struggles, however, all of the workers and volunteers at the REC center really strive to make the world a better place for these adolescents and I am so blessed to be a part of that.