One of the things that attracted me to Wellspring was the sense of community. We all have that internal need to feel connected and have a sense of belonging. We talk about this in Giving Back Class. Each Tuesday and Thursday mornings, two different groups of STARS meet to discuss who we will recognize. We make and sign cards for birthdays, people who need extra love, and for simply gratitude. We talk about how doing this simple act of recognizing birthdays and people who need recognition brings us joy.
Joy. Gratitude breeds joy. And in this class, we also take cookies that the Wellspring bakery has ready for us. Those are wonderfully delicious sugar cookies that are baked and iced on a daily basis for our café/bakery enterprise. We take these cookies and each of us decorate a cookie or two. We use edible markers and gel to write our message, or simply a design on the cookies. This is a fun activity for the STARS. We talk about what we’re drawing and why while we decorate. We also discuss who we are giving back to. They are always people who have sponsored Wellspring in some way, whether it is the gift of their time, monetary donations, or the like.
Recently, we gave cookies to Mayor Jason Gray. We went and visited him at his Crowfoot Valley Coffee shop and he really liked receiving the cookies. The Charles Schwab “Schwabbies”, gave us the gift of their time when they took a day and hung out with us. We’ve also given cookies to Orangetheory, IREA, Castle Rock Zipline Tours, The Emporium, and the Castle Rock Recreation Center. Not only do these wonderful community partners help with the gift of their time or financially, they have also let us use their space for some of our classes. We are grateful.
