During service days, we take the time to remember how our needs are being met and how we can help meet the needs of other people. We reflected on our motto, Our Cups Overflow and decided we definitely had more than enough spilling over our own cups. This is our EC philosophy of service: those whose cups spill over have the joy and responsibility of sharing with others whose cups aren't quite full. Then we learned all about Blue Skies For Children's mission, and how they help "fill the cups" of hundreds of children in Whatcom County. It was lovely to see how well the girls understood that mission, and to witness their emerging commitment to do what they could to contribute to it.
The commitment on this day was to stamp, label and stuff thousands of envelopes. As we talked about direct service vs. indirect service, the Silver Salmon girls saw how this indirect contribution of labeling envelopes to potential donors could allow many children to be assisted by BSFC.
All service projects require some degree of persistence – it is work, after all. But somehow the Silver Salmon successfully made work into play. This time was a great way to catch up with some of the girls on their lives, something we often don't have time for on outings. We shared our interests, upcoming events, and lots of goofiness!
In Explorers Club, we aim to create a culture that expresses the attitude of writer Rabindranath Tagore: "I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy." Our project involved a different kind of tenacity than usual: there was no inclement weather to work with, no hard-to-pull weeds, but rather, lots of repetitive tasks. But Silver Salmon never seemed to tire of it; they took a short lunch break (after Holly and Lauren had to convince to actually stop and eat lunch!), and were determined to finish the job we had come to do. This is integrity in action, following our EC motto Walk Your Talk.
Even amidst all the silliness and fun we had, this group put their best self-management skills to work and learned that Slow is Fast. With great focus, they sticker-ed, stamped and stuffed a huge number of envelopes and donated 24 hours of time (3 hrs x 8 girls)!! Filled with a sense of determination and resolve to have the biggest impact possible in a finite amount of time, they even stamped and labelled an additional round of envelopes up until the very last minute! They really left an impression, and received sound gratitude from Julie, Blue Skies' Executive Director.
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| Showing off all of our hard work! We stuffed, labelled, and stamped ALL of these envelopes! |
The laws of physics mean that when one's cup is emptied to fill others' cups, that cup becomes more empty. But the Silver Salmons' experience defied physics: they all could easily state that their cups were more full by helping to fill those of the BSFC kids.
Check out our slideshow from the day here!
EC Mottos especially alive today:
Our Cups Overflow
Walk Your Talk
Collaborate and Compromise
All Things Are Connected
LIBK (Let It Be Known)
Widen The Circle
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