Last year when 13-year-old Ty’Jairese Nevings asked for a volleyball, she got one, as well as tips on how to use it from a Ball State student.
“The person that I was with played [volleyball] at Ball State for two years,” she said. “She told me how to use the ball right, and that’s when I started playing volleyball.”
Nevings was paired with a Ball State student for the Angel Festival. The two played games and did crafts that Ball State’s Student Action Team had set up.
On Friday, she will participate in Angel Festival once again.
SAT partners with the Boys and Girls Club of Muncie, pairing a child with a Ball State student.
The children make a wish list, including clothing and shoes sizes, as well as five things they want.
The children receive many of the items they list, some of which have been a bicycle and a basketball hoop.
Yolanda Bonner, program director at the Boys and Girls Club, said the club hosts the event every year at its facilities.
“It’s been a success because of the Student Action Team,” Bonner said. “They really work hard to put it together. It’s a great thing for the kids.”
Ty’Jairese Nevings’ mother, Teresa Nevings, she said the way the students focus on each individual child makes the event a positive experience for both parties.
“Some kids look up to older girls that go to Ball State like a big sister instead of an adult, and they can open up to them,” Teresa Nevings said.
Bonner said she also is enthused about the way the students relate to the children.
“They interact with the kids,” Bonner said. “They get to know them for the day, and the kids really look forward to that.”
Ty’Jairese Nevings said she’s looking forward to meeting another student who might get her interested in another subject.
“I’m looking for someone that leads me to somewhere that is good for me with what they did in college and why they did it,” Ty’Jairese Nevings said.
