Me and eight others hopped in the car to take the short drive over to the Gallatin, Tennessee housing projects. We arrived in the heat of the day, sweaty and tired. We unpacked the food and watched young kids flock to the courtyard in the center of the projects. Possibly the only meal of the day for some. The kids looked happy as we passed out sandwiches and other lunch items. I saw dirty clothes on their backs and wished I could do something about it.

After the kids ate, we brought games and other activities for them to try. A couple of other young boys and I played soccer for what seemed like an endless amount of time. It felt like laughing and smiling forever. 

One of the boys asked, “Where are you from?”

“Wisconsin,” I said. 

He acknowledged and said, “isn’t that really far away from here.” 

“Yeah,” I said.

Then we continued onto the next game, Wiffle ball. We played that for around 30-45 minutes until we saw a storm on the horizon and we decided to pack it up and head back to the Gallatin Community Center to do some work inside. 

We handed out leftover food to the kids as we weren't planning on bringing any food back. All of the kids looked at us and said thank you and the little boys that played soccer and Wiffle ball all came up and gave me a big hug smiling from ear to ear.