Emerging Leaders Program holds Kids’ Day of Wellness event

On Saturday, Nov. 11, several students from the Binghamton University Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) hosted a Kids’ Day of Wellness event at the Lee Barta Community Center in Binghamton. The Binghamton students designed and guided physical and mental wellness activities such as yoga, smoothie biking and cookie decorating for community youth. The event culminated with a speaker and presentation discussing social and emotional wellness, effective communication and coping mechanisms for children feeling stress.

The event was organized by ELP students participating in the sports recreation and wellness knowledge community, but was slightly different than the outreach events held by this learning community in the past,

“Past projects put on by this learning community focused mostly on the ‘sports wellness’ bit,” said Swapna Chavara, a first-year student and ELP participant. “We decided we wanted to hone in on the wellness aspect of it this year.”

“We wanted the self-care aspect of wellness to be just as highlighted, if not more [than physical wellness],” said Riley Peckman, an ELP mentor. “The community kids that showed up were eager to volunteer and play. The energy and enthusiasm was contagious. The University students were able to see how their small acts made a lasting impact on these kids.”

The mission of the ELP is to connect Binghamton University and the local community while helping students learn and develop leadership skills. University students create a direct impact on the local community through the creation, development and implementation of student-led service-learning projects, such as the Kids’ Day of Wellness event.

“The purpose of this event was to benefit the community, however our mentees left this event with benefits of their own,” said ELP mentor Joseph Darrell. “This project acted as a stepping stone for these students, inspiring them to continue to give back and aid in the local community.”

“I’m proud of what we were able to put together,” said Chavara. “The children had fun, were engaged and learned a lot — their parents, too!”

Chavara is one of 13 first-year students that put on the event.

“Being involved with ELP has helped me to feel more included,” said Chavara. “When I enrolled here I felt like a little fish in a big sea, but ELP has enabled me to develop a network and a community while developing leadership and organization skills. It’s been a tremendous experience.”

For more information about the program, visit the ELP website.