St Jude’s Children’s Ranch

This week on a Global Mastermind Event in Las Vegas a group of us were privileged to provide a day of service at St Judes Children’s Ranch in Boulder City, Nevada.

This amazing facility is run by a not for profit organisation which provides group based care for severely traumatised and abused children of all ages. It also provides accommodation for at risk pregnant girls and mothers with young babies, ensuring support for early bonding and attachment as well as practical help with child care.

The Director exudes hope and enthusiasm and her commitment and belief in the importance of the work of the centre, is reflected in the staff team.

The ranch is funded by the state for the day to day care of the children and any additional activities have to be paid for by fundraising. The centre therefore really appreciated the voluntary work of our group. Some of us cleared the weeds and cut back trees around the houses to ensure the security cameras could work, while others made stands for a Christmas tree fund raiser or cleaned a vacant house in preparation for a new arrival. The groundsman estimated that we achieved in one day what would have taken him a month working on his own, which just demonstrates the power of team work and the value of just a few hours of focus dedicated time by willing volunteers.

I was so impressed I am going back before I leave Vegas next week to learn more about the philosophy of this project, meet some of the staff and children and to see what we can learn from it.