I got involved with Agape Youth and Family Center 20 years ago when they started meeting in the basement of one of the Bolton road Apartments. Thanks to the efforts of donors and Trinity Presbyterian Church, we are now in a fabulous facility that I call the “Cruise Ship,” on Marietta Blvd. It is a home away from home for many of the children and a place they look forward to coming.
Agape’s primary function is an after school program for kids who qualify for free/reduced lunch and attend E. Rivers Elementary, Bolton Academy, Sutton Middle School and North Atlanta High School. Children are picked up from school on Agape buses and taken to the new facility on Marietta Blvd. where they receive a snack, tutoring, homework assistance, enrichment activities, and a hot dinner every day before they are dropped off at their home in the evening. More information about volunteering to serve dinner below.
One of the main volunteering opportunities at Agape is to assist students with their homework Monday-Thursday. There is also a special reading program, called Cupp Reading, by which volunteers have the opportunity to literally teach children how to read. I am there four days a week because it’s the most rewarding volunteer job I’ve ever had. Although I have worked in many non-profits, I’ve never seen the return on my investment like I have at Agape. With no primary school background, but with the help of the Cupp reader, I’ve helped kids learn to read that were behavior problems; who have no English speaking parents at home; who live in a bedroom with several siblings and then watch that trickle down when I teach their younger siblings. You literally change the trajectory of someones life when you teach them how to read! What an awesome feeling to see one of my former kids (who not surprisingly didn’t want to read after being in school all day) sitting in a corner reading or wanting to still hang out in the Cupp reading room!
Agape Youth and Family Center has been operating for over 20 years, has more students enrolled than they ever have, and have plans to add another school to the program in the near future. This means we need more volunteers! Please join me in changing the lives of these children, so they can pass it on and change lives in their communities. If you have questions, please call me at carolosner@gmail.com.
– Carol Johnson
FOOD VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Providing dinner for our students is a wonderful way to serve their bodies and minds before they are taken home for the day. Volunteers provide dinner for one of the three schools we serve during after school programming and work in shifts Monday through Friday. They are as follows:
Dinner for Bolton- 4:45-6:00 pm
Dinner for E Rivers- 5:15-6:30 pm
Dinner for Sutton- 5:30-6:45 pm
You can sign up for one of these opportunities and learn more about what food volunteering is like through our sign up genius here. Questions please contactbsivewright@agapeatlanta.org.