As a volunteer for Bright Beginnings, I was able to shop and bond with a elementary student from Spotsylvania. During the shopping experience, she was so excited to pick brand new clothes and shoes. She commented on how nice she was going to look for school and that pink was her favorite color. After we finished shopping, we returned to the break room for lunch and activities which included coloring. As the day wrapped up, her attitude started to changed. I was helping her gather her things and asked her to put the crayons away so she could get on the bus. She yelled no! I said you can take the picture with you and color it at home. Seeing this child who was so happy earlier get angered by this simple request was upsetting.  She looked at me with a sadness and said I don't have any crayons at home. At that moment being able to tell her that in her new backpack she had a full box of crayons and that she could color at home. The YMCA Bright Beginnings program made that possible.