This summer the Richmond Youth Service Agency’s Summer Camp Adventures Program was fortunate to have many committed and hardworking volunteers giving their time to help the staff run the camps. While all of the volunteers did an amazing job one volunteer in particular, Akiff Jamal, shined through the group. Akiff Jamal is a criminology student whose career aspirations include becoming a Policeman or a Customs Officer.  The time spent volunteering with the Summer Camp Adventures Program has helped to build Akiff’s career relevant skill set by increasing his patience, listening, and interpersonal skills with people of various age groups.  Since he spent the last two years finishing high school and working a part-time job this was Akiff’s first summer volunteering with the program. Previously, he did not have much time to volunteer so this summer he decided to give back to the community which he is a part of by donating his time.

Akiff found the most rewarding part of volunteering with the Summer Camps to be the experience of sharing joy and a sense of achievement with the children every time they learned something new. It was also very rewarding to have the children look up to him as a role model or mentor. This created a great feeling of satisfaction for Akiff. He also enjoyed the experience of meeting and interacting with many new people. Challenges included adjusting to the wide range of age groups of children and encouraging them to participate in events that varied in difficulty level from one child to another.

Outside of this volunteer position Akiff enjoys playing basketball, watching hockey, reading, and spending time with friends and family. Given his love of sports Akiff’s favourite themed week was the sports summer camp. During this week he was also able to participate in an array of games and activities. His advice for improving the Summer Camp Program in the future is to include more outing events so the kids have an opportunity to go around the city and see new sights that they may not usually have the chance to see. The Summer Camp Program gives the kids a place to have fun, make friends, obtain skills and knowledge, and learn how to be constructive members of a larger team. All the skills the kids acquire they will be able to use later on in life.

Given his great experience as a volunteer this summer, Akiff plans to volunteer again with the Summer Camp Adventures Program next year. Thank you Akiff for all of your hard work and effort. You were an asset to the program and helped to make it an amazing experience for everyone who met and worked with you!