As a fund raiser for the mission trip to the Dominican Republic, the youth group mans a fireworks tent at a local Walmart 24/7 for about two weeks. Kids get credit towards their trip, based on how much is raised in sales and how many hours were volunteered. A benefit of being a teacher is that I have summers off, which meant a LOT of availability to volunteer, therefore multiplying the money we were earning for the trip. Most kids were talking about not having to pay anything for their trip, or very minimal amounts of money, so I was excited to help her earn a free trip. We even volunteered for an overnight shift (aka sleeping in a Walmart parking lot, surrounded by explosives! Eek!). There were a TON of people assigned to each time slot, with not many customers the first week. I joked that we were earning 30 cents per hour! The kids played lots of card games, had lots of time on their phones, bought lots of snacks at Walmart, and got more comfortable being friendly to customers and explaining the fireworks. Together we worked 130 hours and earned just over $5/hr. It didn't pay for her trip by any means, but she did feel very comfortable with the kids going on the trip moreso than she would have otherwise. We put an air mattress in the back of the car and locked ourselves in. Thankfully it wasn't too hot that night!
Our view from inside the car
Many people just back up to the tent but I didn't want to wake up to a random person looking at us sleep through the window (do you sense my anxiety about this??), so I backed up even further so we could be closed in. It wasn't our best night's sleep. I woke up to every train that passed. In the morning when we opened the door to get out, it set off the alarm and took a bit to get it to turn off. It was an experience for sure!!
LOTS of card playing! The favorites were Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza and Uno: No Mercy (our new favorite!)
Willow played Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza with some vicious boys and ended up with bruised knuckles!
The girls raised more money holding up signs in the parking lot for an hour than we did in sales for an hour!
Teenage communication while at the fireworks tent
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