Community Counselors and Au Pairs Giving Back to their Communities

Many EurAupair Community Counselors across the country have started organizing community service meetings with their groups of Au Pairs. To support their efforts on a national scale, EurAupair will be doing its first National Day of Giving this coming November 8th! Community counselors together with their au pairs, as well as area coordinators and regional offices will gather in local soup kitchens, food banks, and much more to help those in need! A great way for all of us to give back to our communities while showing our au pairs a true value of the American culture.

Below you can read some of initiatives from our Community Counselors and Au Pairs!

Hope Ministries, Indiana - On March 23^rd my community counselor Pat, me and two other au pairs, Jani and Christina, arrived at Hope Ministries to help serve meals for the people in need. When we arrived, Kim, the cook, welcomed us and told us to put on an apron, hair net and gloves and to help her to prepare the lunch. We had to prepare the salad, the apple sauce with peaches, and cut the chicken. At 11:30 am, we started to serve the meals to approximately 100 people. Each of us had something to serve. Pat was serving the noodles with chicken, I was serving the corn pie, Jani was serving the bread and the salad, and Christina the apple sauce and the cake. It was a truly beautiful and very humble experience. By Au Pair Nadia Henry (France) with the Sucosky family from South Bend, IN.

Circle of Concern, Missouri - St. Louis au pairs and community counselors volunteered at the local food pantry “Circle of Concern”. They helped fundraising and donated lots of canned goods. While volunteering, the au pairs got a brief explanation of how the center operates and learned about the ways they can give back to their community. Circle of Concern is primarily operated by volunteers. Each month the center feeds more than 2,200 hungry families and provides financial assistance in the West St. Louis area. By the time we were leaving, we were all proud and happy to help out and thankful for everything we have. Submitted by St. Louis, MO Community Counselor Dee McMillion.

Wausau School District, Wisconsin - As part of our meeting, au pairs Barbara and Jana attended the Annual Sweetheart Breakfast and volunteered their time. It is the main fundraiser event for the 4-K programs (4 year old kindergarteners) in the Wausau School District. 
Jana and Barbara helped with the carnival and were absolutely wonderful working with the children and their families! 
The money raised at this this event will go towards classroom resources and supplies for all of the 4-K classrooms in our school district and community sites. Community Counselor Samantha Kniess from Wausau, WI wrote about this meeting. 

Feed My Starving Children, Illinois - On a Saturday night, community counselors Gila Peller and Dawn Rothermel combined forces with their au pairs to help pack food at the Libertyville, IL Feed My Starving Children complex. Yes – you read that right – the au pairs gave up prime time Saturday night to volunteer their time and help starving children!!

After the initial orientation, washing up, it was off to the tables to do some assembly work. The task at hand tonight was making rice packets, each packet containing 6 meals and costing $0.22. Wow! Each table was identified by a different country to where the rice packets would be sent. The au pairs did great and really enjoyed the experience. When it was over, all of the volunteers had packed 146 boxes of rice packets (36 to a box), which would feed 83 children for an entire year. Way to go au pairs! Submitted by Chicago Community Counselor Dawn Rothermel.