July 7, 2010 Sometimes a Breakfast Club is More Than a Breakfast Club
Story contributed by Vicki Gojanovich (Coordinator at the GCVI Breakfast Club)
This year, we arranged for some police officer friends to stop by our breakfast program periodically and join us for coffee. Our program is for high school students who are in pretty tough situations at home and for whatever reasons come to the breakfast club for peace, safety, social interaction and of course good nutrition. Through this interaction with the police officers in a safe and comfortable atmosphere, the students have developed a unique friendship, feeling at ease with the officers being there.
A situation developed late one Friday evening, in the downtown area where there are many bars. One of our students, who lived on his own, had become intoxicated and physically and verbally violent. The police were a little careful with him because they didn’t want to charge him with attacking a police officer. They called an ambulance because he had harmed himself and was a danger to others. He was belligerent and wouldn’t do what the officers requested. Along came Jen, the police officer from the breakfast club and he instantly recognized her and his demeanor changed instantly because of the trust he had established through the program. She helped him into the ambulance without any trouble and accompanied him to the hospital for treatment.
So as you can see by this incident, sometimes a breakfast club isn’t just a breakfast club but an opportunity to build relationships in the community between kids in some kind of need and those who care.
