Valentine’s Day at KidWorks provided a sweet opportunity for the youth at KidWorks to focus on loving God, loving others and learning to love ourselves. Gals and guys alike had special activities with their friends and the staff at KidWorks.
Galentine’s has become a favorite celebration for the ladies at KidWorks. What started as a fictional holiday as part of a Parks and Recreation television comedy episode, but now Galentine’s Day is an honest-to-goodness real holiday, celebrated annually—and one KidWorks made the most of on Feb. 14.
“Our theme for the Galentine’s portion of this youth event was ‘Ladies Celebrating Ladies,’ with the intention to develop a culture around celebrating the young women God made each of them to be and to also celebrate the ladies around them,” says Jacky Hernandez, Program Assist/Program Leader at our Donahue Center. She worked on the Galentine’s event with Dianna Valdez, Site Director at our Cedar Evergreen Center.
“We are deeply grateful to Andi Long, from Bloom Foundation, who served as our guest speaker,” Jacky says. “She did a phenomenal job sharing her story and reminded our girls that no matter what labels people may put on you, cling instead to who God says you are! The girls also shared great takeaways from that night and had a blast expressing their creativity through a do-it-yourself photo frame craft project.”
Jacky and Dianna thank Kyle Team and Camille Strader and their friends from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach—longtime KidWorks partners and supporters--who were instrumental in helping provide prizes, goodie bags and other treats for the youth.
Galentine’s Day fits in perfectly with a KidWorks program created by Jacky and Dianna called RISE, whose purpose Jacky describes as “equipping teen girls with spiritual and practical disciplines so that they can discover their identity in Christ through community and empowerment.”
“I enjoyed hearing Ms. Andi share her story, and how God told her she was smart, beautiful and made uniquely by Him.”—Cynthia, grade 12
Meanwhile the guys had their own night of bonding time with the male KidWorks staff.
“Valentine’s Day was the perfect opportunity for KidWorks to host a youth night, where the young men felt welcome as everyone remembered God’s eternal love on a day that most people associate only with romantic love,” Franklin says.
“The guys bonded over sports and card games. We were excited to provide positive opportunities for the boys to connect with each other and have fun. They even learned how to tie a necktie, most for the first time!”
The guys also had a discussion about why men don’t say “I love you” and how the words we use can be used to influence our world for good.
The events on Feb. 14 are just one of many ways that KidWorks helps grow character and spirituality within all of our students, in addition to our academic programs. And we always make sure to do it with full hearts, on Valentine’s and every day!
By Glenn Leibowitz, volunteer writer