Congratulations to Bridget Helbock for her Kid of Achievement Award from the Staten Island Children's Museum. Bridget was nominated by the Principal and selected for the award by The SI Children's Museum Committee. Bridget and her family and friends attended a special luncheon at the Hilton yesterday afternoon.
An excerpt from Bridget's acceptance speech:
You think you have an understanding of the problems surrounding you but it’s not until you’re submerged in your community, that you can truly grasp the difficulties its members face. I thought I knew of the requirements of special needs people, until I became a Special Olympics volunteer and got to intimately learn about the obstacles they face. I thought I understood homelessness until I fed people at soup kitchens and heard their stories. I thought I grasped the hardships the elderly or disabled felt, but it wasn’t until I visited a home on a retreat to the Romero Center and befriended the kindest disabled man Joe, that I could appreciate their hardships. Service is a lot like jumping into the freezing cold ocean in December: shocking. It awakens your empathy and forges incomparable personal connections. It’s this unparalleled relationship that has shaped me into the person I am today.