Ten AYLUS Basking Ridge members participated in Saturdays in Motion at the GSCY YMCA on 12/7/24. The one volunteer that was new to SIM first participated in a brief new volunteer orientation, while the other two helped set up the gym rooms before the kids got here. Once the session started, each volunteer paired up with a special needs kids and did various activities, such as going on the gymnastics equipment, playing catch, running on the inflatable track, and more.
Agenda as follows:
1:30: volunteers load gift bags in the Teen Center. We’ll have recorded holiday music and homemade baked goods for our volunteers. We’ll also need water. I’ve asked each volunteer to bring 80 of something (e.g. 80 twizzlers, or 80 Hershey’s kisses – not bags of Hershey’s kisses, but 80 individual kisses.) Volunteers are of course welcome to be more extravagant with their gifts and bring 80 of something nicer. 80 empty gift bags will be laid out around tables and the volunteers walk around the tables putting one of their 80 things into each bag. It works.
2:20 or so: Mike will take a pic of the group in front of the gift bags. The gift bags will then be loaded onto our red sleigh.
2:30: the gift bags will stay in the red sleigh in the Teen Center, and the vols will go upstairs to the second floor to set up for our regular upstairs session. A few vols will make sure that latecomers’ gifts get in the bags. We’ll employ the famous Peter Walpow system for organizing areas for the kids to wait to see Santa once he arrives upstairs.
2:55: pic of SIM vols and Y folks in Studio One.
2:56: Musicians play and carolers sing, and do so throughout the session.
3:00: Regular but shortened upstairs session.
3:15: Our Santa Claus secretly arrives in plain clothes and gets dressed in the bathroom in the basement; he awaits the right time to come up.
3:30: Parachutes in Studio One.
3:40: Santa Claus arrives in full red regalia, with elves and the sleigh filled with the gift bags. He gives a gift bag to each kid who wants one.
4:00 Pool session, and cleanup for non-swimmers. (SWIM!)
5:00 Depart and look up outside to see if you can spot any reindeer.
Christine Shen, Dingding Li, Sara Yu(12/7/24,3HR)
Ethan Nie, Louis Liu, Tonia Wu, Clarence wu, Amelia Liu, Andy Wang, Anya Wang, (12/7/24, 2HR each)
