bettejean

Today was a really awesome day. I joined Ryan and the class that he is an aide for at a an annual meet called Courageous Smiles that is put on by the local Knights of Columbus chapter. It's their own version of the special olympics and the kids with disabilities or low functioning from the surrounding schools are invited to come out and play different games and events. At the end everyone is given a medal and theirs names are announced over the speaker as if they are 1rst place, so if I was one of the kids my name over the speaker would be called out "BeeeeeetteJeeeeeeean! Champion!"
Watching all the kids participate was one of the best things I've ever seen my whole life. When they did the different races on the track, there was nothing but pure joy on the children's faces. No competition, they just wanted to play like all the other kids get to do. This meet is literally the highlight of the year for a lot of the kids. I was crying while shooting, I was just so happy for them all.
Here are some of my favorite pictures I took today:

After the meet I was so proud of the kids in our group that I took them out for ice cream cones before they had to go back to school It was such a great day.

Whenever you see the Knights of Columbus guys hanging around outside of Walmart or McDonalds selling tootsie rolls, they may seem annoying, but these are the kinds of events that the money goes to. Even if you're not into supporting a religious club, please give a dollar, enjoy your tootsie roll and think of the fun time these kids were having.