Game night a fun night at Regency

All five Hands On Charlotte volunteers sat around tables accompanying residents of the Regency Retirement Village. We took the stacks of Bingo cards and selected the two we were going to play with for the night. In the middle of the tables were cups filled with white chips to cover the numbers called out, but those were for guests as the residents all had chips of their own liking. The woman beside me had gold chips and the woman across had red ones, etc.

“B7”…..”O65”…”N24”…were called by the Hands On Charlotte project leader as the residents intently looked for the numbers being called. This went on for a few minutes until “BINGO!” the woman beside me called out. She was then given her quarter for the win of that game. All cards were cleared and the new game began.

I found that I had chosen to sit at the lucky table for the evening, as many of the wins went to the residents at my table. Small talk in between games went on about the cards and the wins from weeks past, but as soon as the calling began all eyes were locked on the cards in front of them. “Last Game” the project leader called out and I couldn’t believe the night was almost over. I was having such a fun time playing Bingo with the residents. After the game was over, I thanked the residents for letting me play and they stated to me that I had not won that evening. I smiled and said “Yes, but I will hopefully have better card selections next time.”

I walked out of the room with them and made my way to the lobby with the other Hands On Charlotte volunteers. I am looking forward to the next BINGO night at the Regency Retirement Village tonight.

Ryan Kamp is a Hands On Charlotte volunteer.

Crisis Assistance Ministry serves critical need

This last week I had the opportunity to go into a number of clothing stores – each set to roll out new spring clothes. One store I went to was the Crisis Assistance Ministry store, and in that store there were no sale signs, price tags were missing and the commission-based sales reps were no where in sight. This store provides free clothing for people in need.

Along with eight other Hands On Charlotte volunteers, I helped to get the store ready for spring. We dispersed throughout the store and began pulling all heavy winter items from the racks. We loaded them in bins and reloaded the shelves with more spring appropriate clothing. One of the Hands On Charlotte volunteers asked where the clothes go that are taken off the racks. The Crisis Assistance Manager stated that the clothes were sold by the pound and the money generated was used to help maintain the facilities as well as provide financial assistance for people who needed help to pay bills and keep a roof over their heads.

Once we filled the new racks with clothes we walked to the back of the warehouse where we were lead to a long table with bins of clothes around it. We took the bins of clothes and unloaded them down the stretch of the table, gathered around the table and began organizing the clothes. We made it through a few bins before it was time for us to leave. I looked around the warehouse and saw many other bins of clothes and didn’t want to stop, but I knew that it was time to step away for the evening and come back next time.

Hands On Charlotte needs at least15 volunteers to help the store twice a month on Tuesdays from 6-8pm, and I look forward to attending the next one on April 5.

Ryan Kamp is a Hands On Charlotte volunteer.