Former Youth Director Amanda Cheng shares her thoughts on volunteering to help Operation Breakthrough.
Author: Amanda Cheng
Please allow me to introduce Operation Breakthrough, a local KC organization that provides daycare services for low income families. One could not begin fathom the magnitude of little miracles saturated within those brightly painted walls. However, life truly is not the same for these children and I am honored to have represented the Jasmine Chinese Dance Group in giving back to my community.
Jasmine has taken 2 trips to Operation Breakthrough this year; one during the holiday season and another this June. We spent around 2 hours for each visit interacting and performing for the children there. Without access to the performing arts, it was very meaningful to have brought the arts to them and even more so to immerse them in culture. Our performances featured all different aspects of Chinese culture through traditional dances and we interacted with traditional Chinese dance props to create a fun and educational experience.
The highlight of this event however, was unarguably being gifted the ability and means to enrich these children’s lives. As much as we seem to have given them, I can’t help but to notice that I seem to have gained just as much if not more. Everywhere I turned I saw bright eyes and wide smiles; eager to engage and so full of love. These kids have little to nothing, yet their spirits are so incredibly strong. Inspiring doesn’t even begin to say it. With each embrace I felt more and more fulfilled and I just hope these children enjoyed this experience as much as we all did.