July News
June Activity
On Saturday, June 18th, Chicktime San Antonio had one goal in mind and that was to get the teen girls at Boysville ready for summer. And, what is a hot Texas summer without flip-flops?
This month’s activity leader, Tori Tyler, showed the girls how to turn basic flip flops into fun and unique ones. This flip flop activity took a twist on the fabric tie flip flops and used water balloons instead!
The craft time allowed the girls to not only be creative, but to laugh and share with each other about summer plans and newly-found jobs. Flip flop crafting made the girls hungry, so the assorted flavor mini muffins and peanut butter crackers were a nice treat.
We are forever grateful to recent high school graduate, Tori Tyler, who has been coming and serving Chicktime San Antonio since we started. She not only comes to serve, but occasionally takes the leadership role in a monthly activity. This month was no different. We are going to miss her once she goes off to college in August.
We are always looking for more teens that would like to volunteer and possibly even plan and lead one of our monthly activities. And, you can earn volunteer hours, too!
Due to a heavy summer schedule, Boysville is not able to have Chicktime in July so we will have a combination July/August activity on August 6th. Please mark your calendar!
With love and gratitude,
Annette, Letty, and Donnette
Chicktime San Antonio Chapter Leaders
“[God has] given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. ”
– Ephesians 2:10 TLB
Different and the Same By Tori Tyler
“Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know which one you’re gonna get.” I have watched that movie a hundred times and never gave much thought to that famous line from Forrest Gump, until a few years ago. Contrary to my belief, the life I have is not as common as I thought. In my mind, I thought most teen girls had their own spot on a sectional sofa to watch Netflix with their family. Dads are math heroes and moms help you straighten your hair in the morning before school. At the age of 12, I began to interact with girls whose life experiences were far different than mine and the reality that some children and teens were trapped in dangerous and unhealthy homes pierced my heart. Globally, millions of children and teens are affected by things out of their control such as sexual exploitation, physical and mental abuse, and neglect. It’s not just happening in faraway places, but in homes just around the corner from where I live.
For the past seven or so years, I have been volunteering with Chicktime. Once a month, I help provide an activity for teen girls who live in shelters or homes not their own, because they have suffered untold abuse and neglect by hands of those they trust. I’m not going to lie, initially, the girls scared me. I’m pretty sure they found joy in the fear they could see in my eyes. I thought they were rude, aggressive, and just downright not anyone I would want to be friends with at any given time. The fact that they didn’t welcome me with open arms after I sacrificed the third Saturday of every month to be with them was simply annoying. Month after month, I showed up. Eventually, fear turned to trust. Not just in my heart, but in the hearts of the girls I came to visit. Some I came to know personally. They knew my name and I knew their name. I had conversations with girls my own age over crafts and card games about being sold sexually for drug money or being thrown across the room for eating the last piece of bologna in the refrigerator. Mixed in these conversations were discussions about boys, makeup, and food. The very same topics I have conversations with girls I’ve grown up with all my life. Different life experiences, but same hopes and desires.
Life is like a box of chocolates. There are many different life experiences. Some have a little more bumps, while others have smooth edges and little surprises. Yet, when we manage to get to the inside, we can see that all are very similar. We all yearn to be loved and accepted and not be judged by the experiences that are merely just a part of who we are.
