Organization of Faith: Whole Kids Outreach

Whole Kids Outreach

This past summer, me and the other members of my youth group drove out to Ellington, Missouri to volunteer at the Whole Kids Outreach center there (pictures and information about the center can be found here). Whole Kids Outreach is a non-profit organization committed to helping young children grow up in a safe and healthy environment despite the poverty that their parent (or, very rarely, parents)is in. The main service of Whole Kids Outreach is that their workers will drive upwards of three hours to do daily chores that the single parents cannot do due to their jobs and taking care of their children. Other than doing chores, the Whole Kids workers also try to teach parents how to treat and take care of their children.
On our trip to the Whole Kids Outreach, we did not get to spend much time with the families that the volunteers work with, but on one day we got to help a single mother with a broken leg and her newborn baby. I did five loads of laundry that day while other members of our group clened her apartment, did her dishes, cleaned her stroller, and kept her company. It was so fulfilling to know that we were able to help this woman get through such a hard time.
Most of our time at Whole Kids Outreach, however, was spent performing menial work at the Whole Kids Outreach Center. We dusted, vacuumed, organized, painted, windexed, weeded, donated, and washed for the most part of our stay. Although at times this work seemed pointless and unnecessary since we could really see no direct benefit, our youth group leader continually reminded us that our work does help the Whole Kids Outreach families by making the work at the Whole Kids center easier and more efficient.
Sister Anne Francioni founded the Whole Kids Outreachin 1999 to provide resources dedicated to the educational and developmental well-being of the struggling families in south-central Missouri. n our trip to Whole Kids Outreach, we had the honor to meet Sister Anne and discovered that she is extremely committed to the cause, so much so as to come off as a little demanding of her volunteers. She may have seemed a little insistent to us, but when we saw her interact with one of the families that Whole Kids Outreach helps, it was easy to understand why she wanted us to work so hard; she just wants everything perfect for the families she provides for.
It was hard for a lot of us volunteers to leave our volunteer house when it came time. We had become accustomed to the loving atmosphere and did not want to leave it. We had to go, though, but not before deciding that we would come back next summer to volunteer again.

I would encourage anyone to donate items to the Whole Kids Outreach, a wish list is included on their website. Also on the website is information on the center. Just click here to visit the Whole Kids Outreach website.

To contact Whole Kids Outreach, just click here.