In honor of my Bar Mitzvah, I will shall be volunteering at the Barnyard a program of Coconut Grove Cares, a not-for-profit organization. The Barnyard is a neighborhood community center, located in the heart of Coconut Grove. The Barnyard provides free after school and summer camp programs for children with financial and domestic hardships. The programming focuses on education, arts and culture, science exploration, literacy, fitness and parental engagement I will be tutoring kids, ages 5 - 13, who need additional support with their homework and also doing art projects with them. I will be playing with them, dancing with them and forming relationships with them. I love working with little kids. It’s great to play with them, teach them, learn from them and just hang out with them. I am so fortunate to have had so many opportunities to travel and lucky enough to have such a good education. I want to help these kids that don’t have the same opportunities that I was able to have, to get the chance to learn new skills and have fun. What I find special about this project is that I am directly helping kids in need in my own community.
I am also raising money to donate to the Barnyard in honor of my Bar Mitzvah. I hope you can help support me in by donating in honor of my Bar Mitzvah to this incredible program that is so dear to my heart.
History of the Barnyard
Coconut Grove Cares is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building a better community for the children and families of Miami, Florida’s West Coconut Grove. Founded in 1948 by Elizabeth Virrick and Father Theodore Gibson to fight social injustice, Coconut Grove Cares (CGC) has a legacy of fighting social injustice in West Coconut Grove. Originally created as a Slum Clearance Project, Coconut Grove Cares evolved as the community’s needs evolved–from civil rights in the 60s and ex-offenders programs in the 70s, to today’s Barnyard. Opened in 1983, the Barnyard Community Center is a safe, supervised place for neighborhood children. The Barnyard is an alternative to the streets and the crippling realities of unemployment, poverty, violence, teenage pregnancy, and drugs–which are now exacerbated by the relentless pressure of gentrification.
