If I live to be 150 years old I won’t get over the fact that schools around here now begin the new school year the first week of August. And on a Friday. When I was in school… But that’s ancient history, and now is now.
Grandson Ben is now in 7th grade, the middle grade of middle school. He began school on Friday after spending a summer of fun and volunteer service as part of a group that not only did volunteer work locally but also made two out-of-state trips to perform volunteer service.
Every summer, the group travels to the small town of Bayou Le Batre, Alabama, a fishing village that is located on the Gulf of Mexico and is known for its seafood processing and shipbuilding industries. There they engage in a number of community service and outreach projects to this community that has been greatly affected over the years by hurricanes and oil spills.
For the first time this summer, the group also volunteered for a week at Give Kids the World Village, an 89-acre resort in Central Florida for disabled and critically ill children and their families. Since its inception Give Kids the World has offered cost-free week-long vacations to over 177,000 families from all 50 states in the U.S. and from 76 countries.
I’m very proud of this young man (who now stands heads and shoulders above me), and I wish him well in school this year and in all that he does.
#BenStrong #Soli Deo Gloria