Renewal and Looking Forward
Maybe it’s just the morning, the cool breeze after a couple of hot days, the dust washed away by the rain, the rolling from spring into summer, but something feels new and exciting today. Little by little, the state is reopening and we are finding new ways to engage in things that are wonderfully comforting. The rain and cooler air have brought renewal as has the reopening. While we have grieved the loss of the familiar, we are also more appreciative of what we have. There is an excitement that is hard to put a finger on to replanning familiar things in a new way. Perhaps it does us good to have to put our thinking caps on and wrestle with the how-tos in life for a bit. Perhaps it adds a sense of adventure and specialness that, ultimately, we really can figure out how to have the connections we need and have some newness injected into the scene.
Here at RUSC Kinship Mentoring, we have had to do a fair amount of wrestling with the how‑tos. How do we maintain and support mentoring relationships in the midst of a lockdown? How do we reach out to establish new mentoring relationships now? What about our activities, our fundraisers, our trainings? There have been a lot of questions and not a lot of solid answers but there have also been a number of fresh, new ideas. Some of our old standbys have had to be put on standby, and some new ideas put into action. We are offering virtual activities in place of monthly group activities. Our Garden Gala is on hold until next year and a community scavenger hunt will be filling that spot. Golf Fore Mentoring will go forward with a few minor adjustments. Quarter Kraze will now have a date in the fall. Maybe we will find out that it has an even better response then! In spite of a lot of adjustments in activities, we have felt the continuing support of community. It is so good to know that RUSC Kinship’s value is recognized and supported even in difficult times.
So, we are looking forward with a bit of a sense of renewal and refreshing from the changes, even though it was hard. We look forward, cautiously optimistic, to Lunch Buddies restarting in the fall. We look forward knowing there may be a greater need than before for mentors and adult lunch buddies. We look forward to serving children and families who may have had very adverse experiences during the lockdown as well as those who were less affected. We look forward to our replanned events. We look forward with gratefulness in our hearts, knowing that our community values our presence. We look forward to making our presence invaluable and we especially look forward to connecting more personally with our community.
We are looking forward to seeing you all this summer!
