Shop With A Yellow Jacket

Shop with A Yellow Jacket

12/15/2018

Nothing is sweeter than a child’s smile. When I signed up for this event with my friends, I did not think it would be a life changing experience for me. Shop with a Yellow Jacket (SWAYJ) is a charity event hosted by Sprayberry high school where a team of students will raise money to help kids from area schools buy Christmas gifts. We take them on a shopping trip to Walmart where each child that is sponsored can spend $100. The students are supposed to spend the money wisely, so they can by enough gifts for the child and his family members. I signed up for the event with my friends Danial, Dasan, and Teddy. We each had to contribute 35$ that accounts for our t-shirt and the money to sponsor the kid. Teddy had to back down in between as he had a family event during the day of the occasion, but the rest of us three decided to go forward with the event. On the day of the event, we had to arrive early at about 7:30 a.m., as we had to be there to greet our sponsored child. We were assigned a kid named Eli. He was really quiet at first. We took him to get breakfast, took a picture with Santa, and colored some pictures with him. As we moved on with the event, Eli got comfortable with us and started talking more with us. He was a really fascinating child. When we went to Walmart, instead of looking for toys and stuff for himself, he first wanted to buy gifts for his family members. He picked our various gifts he thought his parents might like, and when he was done picking stuff for his parent, he went and brought some toys for himself and his sister. When we were done with all the shopping, the total amounted to about 96$. We then went and drank hot chocolate with Eli, and then listened to the chorus by Sprayberry band. When we went back to Sprayberry we wrapped all the gifts We brought for Eli and his family, and then went and got face painted. At about 1:00 p.m. the parents started to come to pick up their child, and we dropped Eli off with their parents. Their smiles when they all got their gifts made my day. I had just signed up for the event to get my hours done for BETA club, but after running around a whole morning with a child, I really understood the true importance of giving back to the community. This was one of the most eventful days of my life, and I will not hesitate to do this all over again.