I enjoyed having the opportunity to learn up close how the government operates. I learned about the day-to-day task of the Governors Office and gained insight of the challenges and opportunities facing our state.

Since the State of North Carolina wants to include children in all Foster Care and Child Protective Services Family Team Meetings, the goal of my project is to supply these children with activities to get them occupied and entertained during the lengthy family meetings. I will be collaborating with departments within the Wilson County Department of Social Services that work directly with children. These include : Clinical Social Workers, Foster Care and Adoptions, Child protective services, and Child and Family Team Meeting Coordinators. I will meet with them to determine the number of bags needed for children up to age 10. I will gather some volunteers to assist me in filling these bags with items that have been donated by friends, relatives, and neighbors. These items include toys, coloring books, crayons, and puzzles. I gave each person that donated a budget of $10.00. I will then deliver the bags to the Wilson County Department of Social Services for the social workers to use as needed. This is a picture of Don Richards -Smith, Clinical Social Worker and Therapist.

On the day of the event I gathered the children’s goodie boxes and met with several of the social workers that I had previously scheduled an appointment with to give them the boxes. In the picture is Child Protective Social Worker, Ava Williams.

I feel that I was successful in my goal. The social workers from the Wilson County Department of Social Services were very appreciative to receive goodie boxes for the children that they work with. The boxes allow the social worker to be more productive in their jobs at Social Services, while the children have fun activities to keep them busy and happy. A few days after I delivered the boxes, I went back to the Department of Social Services to touch base to see if the children were enjoying the boxes. One of the workers told me that they love the boxes and it assisted the children with completing tasks during therapy sessions. They have already used many of the boxes and I will continue to keep them supplied.