Kinderheim

When I got the email about the need for volunteers for this years upcoming Kinderheim event I excitedly asked Pachenko what he thought. I wanted to make sure he was up to having another child even if it was just for the day of course he said yes that our Kinderheim child could just take Julianna's place. That is a joke though since no one could ever take her place. I also asked my bestie Kelly B if her and John would be interested in doing it of course they were and they signed up too.

For those of you who haven't heard of Kinderheim I will give you a little information about the program.
Kinderheim provides a loving shelter and care for children who are alone or separated from their parents. Every year, the children come to our community to spend a fun filled day with an American family.
Organizers look for families, groups, or organizations to sponsor a child for the day. Sponsors meet the children at our local Longbow Lounge and enjoy a day of activities like helicopter and fire truck displays, bowling & pizza party, arts and crafts the day ends with a visit from Santa who delivers the children the present that they had on their wish lists. I definitely suggest that every one take the opportunity to spend the day with these great kids.
The child we were united with was awesome his name is Francesco and he is 13 years old since the day is about the Kinderheim children I decided to only bring Sophia since she too is 13 I figure it would be fun for her to meet a German teenager the same age as her plus I though bring all the girls would take the focus away from Francesco which was something we didn't want. I have to say I was a little nervous at first a 13 year old boy wow what do I do with a boy? I have 7 daughters lol but I worried for nothing Francesco was great he fit right in. After we were introduced we took them to see the fire truck and then to the hanger to check out the Apache Helicopters it was fun. We then headed to the commissary where we let Francesco pick some snacks up to take home with him after that we headed over to the BOSS where they had snackies and video games. Mays broke out the game tables and the kids were playing Chess, Checkers and Oh Lord I saw a poker game going on at one point next we hit the bowling alley where they had pizza and of course bowling the kids had a blast as well as Pachenko and John B. We then headed over to the teen center where they had disco dancing and video games...as we wrapped up a fun filled day we headed back to the longbow lounge to wait for Santa to arrive with presents.

While waiting for Santa to arrive they had finger foods, veggies n dips, fruits and stuff to make sandwiches of course I took way too many photos but I wouldn't be me if I didn't take photos. It was wonderful seeing the children getting presents some of the single soldiers bought cases of soda for the kinderheim homes which must of been a surprising treat for the teens because they were sure excited by the soda. After the presents were handed out and the children had time to sit and check out their goodies it was time to say good bye.
Good Bye what a horrible thing that we have to do on a regular basis as an Army family we say good bye to our soldier as he goes to the field, training or to deploy. I guess since we are so use to instantly bonding with new people and making them family since we move around and make new homes at new posts we become attached quickly it was really difficult to send Francesco off to board the bus Sophia asked repeatedly if we could keep him she reminded us for the zillionth time she wanted a brother. As I looked around I saw other families struggling with letting go of their new found family...
As Francesco boarded the bus he had a giant smile on his face he told us thank you for spending the day with him and that he had alot of fun but the truth is it was our family that was grateful to him he was a joy to have, we had so much fun with him it was another reminder of how precious family is and to enjoy that time together. Kinderheim is not just something that you can do at Christmas Kinderheim Homes run 24/7 you can visit the children, make donations, send gifts, letters or emails all year long