Monday, May 16, 2016

2,771 Safe Rides Given Caps Off 3-Year Volunteer Effort for #OneontaRides

At the end of the annual Senior Bar Crawl, we wrapped up our 3rd season of ‪#‎OneontaRides‬, bringing our ride total to 2,771--that's 1,741 safe rides given during the 2015-16 school year alone! What's even more amazing is the fact that 49 people have volunteered to stay up late and serve their community in this unique capacity! A big shout-out to the Kindness Team for all of their hard work and support!

This was the second year providing rides during the crawl. Last year's crawl was special because it was when we gave our 1,000th ride. This year's crawl was also a special day, thanks to a team of 10 volunteers who kept the Kindness Station running for 8 hours! To give you an idea of how the day went, check out our report:    
Thursday was a special night of serving Oneonta with 75 safe rides home and many acts of kindness. It was the annual Senior Bar Crawl (an event where hundreds of students go from bar-to-bar in matching T-shirts), and it was the last ‪#‎OneontaRides‬ outing of the semester--which means we’ve got a 3 month break!


It was another big volunteer effort from the Kindness Team. The outing possible thanks to 10 people helping out, including 3 newcomers and 5 students from Campus Ambassadors Oneonta! And, due to the Bar Crawl beginning at 4:30pm, we actually got started at 6pm (4 hours earlier than normal). It felt odd having the Kindness Station up and running during the daylight hours. Since the sun was out and the weather was nice, I brought along a bubble machine and bubble wands. The students loved the bubbles and they danced around the machine and skipped around the plaza while blowing bubbles. It was fun to watch them having fun.

The biggest hit of the evening was by far the breathalyzer. For most of outing, there was a line 3-10 deep of people waiting to get their BAC tested. We easily gave more than 100 tests, perhaps as many as 150+. It’s always an educational/eye-opening experience for someone to learn what their BAC is, and for those who were intoxicated, I made sure to offer crackers, granola bars, and water to help absorb the alcohol.

The Kindness Station hospitality table was completely cleared out--twice! From 6-9pm, we had given away $100 worth of snacks and drinks. I then made a quick run to the store to restock everything ($50), and everything I bought from the second trip was gone by 12:30! We even had 2 friends stop by to drop off a box of juice and boxes of crackers, both items were quickly devoured.

In total, we passed out; 250 bottles of water, 100 juice packets, 75 granola bars, 50 pop tarts, 5 big bags of chocolate, 100 pieces of Orbit gum, 1 pot of coffee, 100 packs of sandwich crackers, and 20+ glow necklaces. Talk about ending the semester with a party! We even had enough volunteers that we were able to fill up a basket with goodies and have a team of 2 walk around downtown passing out some kindness.

On the ride side of things, we took one young man to the Emergency Room after he injured his face, Garland gave a ride as far as East Worcester, and we got to take the second vehicle and patrol the neighborhood to look for people needing help.

My 2 favorite rides of the night: 1) To a young woman who was walking by herself at 2am on West Street between Hartwick and SUCO. We offered her a ride and she gladly took it because she was feeling scared having to walk in the dark by herself. She told us “thank you” a couple dozen times, and she was delighted to recall that I had given her a ride before.

Then there was a student who I have given regular rides to over the past 3 years. Every time I would see him I would shout his name, and we’ve had many conversations over the years about life and faith. He’s graduating this weekend and he knew this might be one of the last times he would see me--so he requested one last ride with just me and him so he could thank me, offer me some pizza, and let me know that I have literally saved his life with all of the rides given him.
I was touched by the gesture and humbled by the compliment. Before dropping him off, he requested a picture of us together, and we later connected on Facebook. I hope to keep in touch with him after he graduates and moves away from O-Town.
We now enter the summer season where we'll fundraise to keep the free ride service going, and make plans to return in the Fall, bigger and better than ever! You can help us jumpstart the fundraiser by making an online donation. 

And you can schedule Pastor Kaler to give a presentation about #OneontaRides to your community group, business, or church, just call 607.434.2564. 

And if you've not yet joined the Facebook Group, Oneonta Kindness Team, do so to get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to organize this community service, as well as to volunteer when we start up again in the Fall.

And to learn more about what we do and hear exciting stories about giving rides, you're invited to attend the monthly Kindness Team Brunch, Sunday, June 5th, 10am at 148 River St.! Come hungry, leave inspired!
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