What encourages people to come together? What increases relatability, which in turn starts conversations and true relationships? Shared experiences promote feelings of unity that create common interests, build background knowledge, encourage friendships and strengthens feelings of connectedness.

What if we felt more connected to those around us? What if, instead of looking at ourselves as ‘us’ and others as ‘them’, we started building the idea of ‘WE’? If we become involved with each other through shared experiences, similarities and differences may be celebrated and enjoyed. We begin to connect and relate to one another.

Becoming connected to the children of our community is the idea behind the donor designated fund at the Hamilton Community Foundation called Experience.

“Children are our most valuable natural resource.”
– Herbert Hoover

Experience was founded to expose children from the Boys & Girls Club of Hamilton to activities they otherwise would not have the opportunity to enjoy, such as:
• experiencing camp
• taking archery lessons
• learning how to canoe
• exploring the wilderness
• experiencing zip lining
• enjoying horseback riding
• going swimming
• sitting around a camp fire
• experiencing the theater
• taking a tennis lesson
• participating in an art class
• visiting the zoo
• going to watch a FC Cincinnati, Reds, or Bengals game
• touring a college campus

These Experiences build background knowledge that help to promote school success. Research shows that increased background knowledge helps students make connections in the classroom and puts them at an advantage. That is what we want for the children in our community.

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
– Nelson Mandela