It was Friday after work. I didn’t get enough sleep the night before, so I was exhausted. Even though couch time sounded enticing, I had been looking forward to playing in a tennis mixer all week and had multiple practices canceled in previous weeks due to the weather. Once again, the weather decided to not cooperate and it was raining off and on the whole day. I stopped at the store to buy my contribution snack fully knowing the match would be canceled once I showed up. You know those times when you’re crabby just because you feel like being crabby? That was me. So, I was not in the best mood when I walked in the store.
I chose to stop at Trader Joe’s because it was conveniently located on my route home. I quickly located what I wanted and got in line. If you’ve ever been to Trader Joe’s, you know customer service is a top priority. I’ve always been pleasantly surprised by how cheery and just plain nice the cashiers are at that store. Some people like to go about their business and not make small talk when shopping, but I appreciate when someone goes out of their way to talk to me. My sour mood quickly changed once I started chatting with the cashier. He made sure I didn’t need anything else and then got me talking about my weekend plans. Maybe he’s one of those perma-peppy dudes, or maybe he was just having a great day, but his happy mood quickly lifted my spirits. Our talk lasted no longer than a minute, but I left feeling silly for ever being crabby in the first place. I also made a mental note to remember why I need to visit Trader Joe’s more often (good customer service = customer retention, for all you marketing folks out there!).
Fast forward to today. A friend of mine told me about some on-the-side work he’s doing for The Friendship Circle. He mentioned how his contacts there want to connect with more people in the community. He introduced us, and I checked out the place today.
The mission of the The Friendship Circle is to provide assistance and support to the families of children with special needs. I had heard of the organization, but the little I knew about it revolved around the $100,000 grant it won earlier this year through the Chase Challenge Facebook contest.
I took a tour of The Friendship Circle and its Weinberg Village, an interactive and mock real world town that lets children with special needs have fun while learning important life skills at the same time. They get real spending money from the bank, which they can use to go to the movies or buy something at the drug store. There’s a pet store, a library, a salon for haircuts and manicures and even a dentist and doctor’s office. The village provides a safe environment for children with special needs while making them feel like an important part of society and teaching them how to do daily tasks that someone without special needs most likely completes without thinking twice.
Weinberg Village was super cool, but I was also impressed with the main area – the Ferber Kaufman LifeTown. Everywhere I looked I saw something that was meant to bring happiness to children. The LifeTown area had a variety of themed rooms, like an arts and craft room and an interactive room with games. There was a huge tub of colored balls where kids could jump in and play, monkey bars, a sand pit and plush foam squares with a trampoline below it. So fun, right? There’s even a special quiet room where parents can chill out and relax while their kids participate in activities.
I learned today that The Friendship Circle is not only a happy place for children with special needs, but also for parents, volunteers and everyone else who works non-stop to make the organization successful. I couldn’t believe that a place like this that is so unique and important to our community has existed for 15 years, but I just learned about it today. There will be more to come on The Friendship Circle in the next few weeks!
Those are my two recent happy tales to get your week started off right. Please share any recent happy experiences if you have them!