One week.
168 hours.
In one short week, eighteen young boys will be wrapping up the first of the best days of their lives. A week after that, it will all be over.
A lot can happen in a week. This week, countless volunteers are preparing for Run Home Camp. Beds are being made, bags packed, grass cut. Next week, even more volunteers-from coaches to “grandparents”- will spend five days investing in the lives of boys no one has ever bothered to care about before. These kids come from all over, but their situation is the same. No family. No love. No hope.
I personally can’t wait to see the ways in which the lives of these boys are going to be transformed in one short week. For maybe the first time, they’re going to be treated like they are the most important kids in the world. Each child will have a coach that interacts with and cares about them personally. The boys will be encouraged as they learn more about and through the game of baseball.
Okay, you may be thinking, that’s nice and all, but how much difference can one week really make? Well, for kids like this? One week can change everything.
This week will give them a place they belong. A metaphorical fresh start. They can go back to their homes knowing that there is hope for them, that people do care about them, that they are loved. Even if things are hard and life is tough, they can remember Camp. They can remember the people they met, the lessons they learned. Maybe years down the road, one of these boys will reach out and help someone like them, be a voice for a kid in a situation like the one they were in. Maybe one of them will grow up and start his own Camp.
Or maybe this one week can be just enough to get them through this year, before they come back next summer.
