Piper Brown, a volunteer from Rocky Mountain High School, shows Lincoln Middle School students Eddie Corro, 13, and Maddie Hotze, 13, how to play a song during the music studio class Wednesday at the Boy & Girls Clubs of Larimer County.
their extracurricular club, Launch! Service, they came across the Fort Collins Boys & Girls Clubs and its well- stocked but sadly dusty music room.
They began visiting the club as volunteers to “get to know the kids and let them know they can trust us,” and this month started a music class, held every Wednesday. Right now, the class mostly consists of getting to know the kids and introducing different forms of music.
But come fall, they hope to record a CD using the studio’s equipment and sell it to bene- fit the club.
“We wanted to do something to help out our community and teach kids music,” said Brown, 16, a student at Rocky Mountain High School who is actively involved in music programs. “I think it’s really good to be a mentor to kids, especially at a young age.”
“This is a great way to give children an opportunity to explore music, especially be- cause many of the kids at the Club come from underprivileged families and might not otherwise get opportunity,” Zhu added.
Next week Sarah Jane Kyle will share her volunteer experience with Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit fair trade market with a local store in Fort Collins.
Have a charity you love working with? Invite Kyle to tag along for your volunteer hours by emailing SarahKyle@coloradoan.com
hour every week in the – midst of sports and scholastic activities-to share their passions and hobbies with the kids.
But they wish even more people would join them in their efforts, whether you’re a musician who would like to play for the youths, an artist who can teach someone a new technique or someone with a hobby I haven’t even heard of yet.
It’s all about passing things down to the next generation. Do you want the club to offer a variety of opportunities and activities to our community’s up-and-coming generation? As a person much wiser than I once said, “Be the change you
want to see.” “The more people with different hobbies and interests to share with our kids, the more they can experience,” Rud said. “We always, always need help.”
Sarah Jane Kyle is the Coloradoan reporter covering volunteerism, nonprofits and philanthropy. Follow her on Twitter @sarahjanekyle or on Facebook at com/reportersarahjane.
Boys & Girls Clubs want volunteers with varied interests to share their hobbies with youths.
When I say Boys & Girls Clubs, what comes to your mind? Is it after school snacks, a place to play basketball and mentoring?
All of those things are true-and great for kids. But what about yoga, karate, art classes and a fully equipped music studio? The Fort Collins Club has the capacity for all of these and more, but many of its more eclectic programs and oppor- tunities lay dormant for much of the club’s open hours because of a lack of volunteers.
For this week’s Causes column, I decided to go “off the beaten path” and beyond what you might expect in a column on this landmark institution on the northwest side of Fort Collins. This column is not focusing on programs know about but those you probably didn’t know existed-because those programs are the ones that need your help.
“The more volunteers we have with the more varied interests, the better it is for my kids because I can’t and don’t know how to do it all,” Fort Collins Unit Director Pam Rud said.
The idea is pretty basic: If you have something you love to do, come in and share it with the kids. That’s the tack four high school students from Fort Collins are taking with or their love of music. Rachel Genschorek, Piper Brown, Maggie Scott and Michelle Zhu come from four different high schools, but share one common passion: music. When the girls began looking for a community service opportunity through.