Zachariah’s Acres is an amazing place. We’ve written about it before, when Namine has volunteered in the past as well as when she’s participated in some of their inclusive events and even just visited for the fun of it. It is an accessible place for families with disabilities to come and do things they might not otherwise be able to do. There are hay rides, fishing, apple picking, and much, much more. Everything is built with complete accessibility in mind; even the flower boxes are built at a height that can be reached when in a wheelchair.
Zachariah’s Acres recently had an event called “Farm to Fork,” where individuals could decorate their own recipe card box and join in making their own healthy snacks. Namine had wanted to help out, so we arrived early to assist in getting set up.
Namine helped unpack the recipe card boxes and cut out shapes for decorating them. As it turned out, there were plenty of boxes to go around, so she got to decorate one of her own.
As one might imagine, there was quite a mess to clean up when everyone was done decorating. While the participants went into the other room to watch the chef and then make their own snacks, Namine and I stayed behind with some of the other volunteers to pick up the scraps and wipe off the tables.
When Namine was done cleaning off the tables, one of the people in charge asked her if she’d like to help feed the chickens. Of course the answer was yes!
When Namine came back inside, they said she was welcome to go into the other room where the chef was talking about some healthy snacks. We missed the first snack talk, but we were just in time for making our own overnight oats.
After completing a service project, Namine usually has to write a little bit about it. In my time doing service projects when I was in grade school, I had to do the same thing. And I, like most children (I assume), didn’t really know what to say. Most of my service projects were done out of requirement, not desire — sorry, Mom and Dad.
As a parent, I hope for my child to be better than me. And Namine, I am proud to note, is a much more compassionate person than I remember being at her age. To that end, she never has any trouble in knowing what to write on her service project summaries. In helping out at Zachariah’s Acres, her answer was straight to the point:
“Zachariah’s Acres is a place that helps people in wheelchairs. I wanted to give back to them, since they’ve done so much for me and people like me.”
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