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Recreation Coordinators Brian Butler and Frank Jones gathered the team. “The kids that use this Rec Center are burned out on video games and binge watching. The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to scour the stores for – old school. No plug-ins allowed and pack in as much fun in a paper sack as possible.” You can almost hear the theme of Mission Impossible playing in the background.
This is an imagined scenario, but Butler was serious in his reaching out to the kids of Springhill Lake Recreation Center. “I’m a big kid at heart. I’m not sure if they miss me as much as I miss them,” he laughed. “But we wanted to come up with a way to connect with the kids.”
The Rec Center, located at 6101 Cherrywood Lane, normally operates a variety of drop-in activities for the youth of Greenbelt West. The facility includes basketball, a computer lab and a game room. Like all recreation facilities in the county, the Rec Center is currently closed to stem the spread of COVID-19.
The staff has been racking their brains on how to reach the kids that they serve from the Franklin Park neighborhood. The Grab ’n Go Activity Bags fill the bill.
Lunches are distributed from Springhill Lake Elementary School and the Rec Center decided to add the Grab ’n Go Activity Bags. “We included old school items like jump ropes, crayons, markers, mazes, paddle ball, jacks … well, we couldn’t find jacks. They may end up in our next bags,” said Butler.
Jones observed, “Many of our parents work. They are front line workers. Between juggling childcare, dinner prep and work, this gives the kids something they can engage in together or just gets the kids away from their screens for a while.”
The Grab ‘n Go Activity Bag Program launched Monday, June 29 at Springhill Lake Elementary School from 10 a.m. to noon. Staff passed out 70 bags. “We have a budget, but once the word gets out we just want to be able to meet the need.”