By Stacy Cruz
Executive Feature Editor
and Carly Gaspari
Feature Editor
Inspired by the resilience of children from impoverished areas in Los Angeles, junior Rachel Glozman has committed herself to working with the non-profit organization United in Harmony to give underprivileged children a chance at normal childhood experiences.
Glozman has dedicated one week in August and the past two Presidents’ Day weekends to volunteering at Camp Harmony, which is put on by United in Harmony. The goal of the camp is to give underprivileged children from inner-city areas a week or a weekend of camp activities at its Malibu location.
“To me, these kids have such hard lives, so to be able to make them happy for a weekend and let them forget what’s going on at home is what matters,” Glozman said. “Many of them are the older siblings that have to act like a second parent because they have a single parent or no parents, so they should be kids for a weekend instead of having all the responsibilities that they have at home.”
Glozman first began volunteering at the camp as a counselor a year and a half ago after hearing about it from a friend. Counselors at Camp Harmony are high school volunteers between grades 10 and 12 who are chosen through an application process that includes an essay about an experience with children and an interview. The program accepted roughly 100 candidates to serve as counselors.
“Our counselors are very special individuals who are applying to work with a very special population of younger children,” Executive Director of United in Harmony Wendy Klappholz said. “The essay is one of the best tools for getting to know them a little before we meet for a group interview. Interviews help us get to know the counselors better and assess where we might place them [according to age group] when accepted to the program.”
Camp Harmony recently conducted its winter program over Presidents’ Day weekend, for which both Glozman and her brother, former Costa student Mikey Glozman, volunteered. Rachel Glozman’s responsibilities as a counselor primarily involve taking care of the children by ensuring that they are fed on time, happy and excited about the activities of the weekend, she said.
“I learned a lot about kids that I didn’t know before and about how strong they can be,” Rachel Glozman said. “I have seen things from a different perspective because I have lived in such a bubble my whole life.”
In addition to her primary responsibilities, Rachel Glozman participates in activities with the campers such as arts and crafts, cooking, swimming, playing sports and hiking. There is also a period in the day for counsel, where the campers sit in their respective cabin and talk to counselors about life lessons they have learned, how they want to improve and what they are thankful for in their lives.
“The best part is when the children are receptive to the lessons that we try to teach them at camp and they understand what you are trying to say to them,” Rachel Glozman said. “When they learn something, it is a really cool thing to see how they have grown to believe in themselves from the beginning of camp. Hopefully, it will all translate to their home lives.”
In addition to United in Harmony’s summer and winter camp program, the organization also organizes monthly excursions, including trips to the California Science Center and a pizza-making class for the children and volunteers. In the future, Rachel Glozman plans to attend these day trips and continue her participation in the United in Harmony community and camps.
“My personal goal was to be there for the kids and make sure they were having fun and having the best week of their lives,” Rachel Glozman said.
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