We got to know some of the amazing volunteers at Forefront Brooklyn over a series of blog posts in March and April, and this month Forefront Manhattan will be featuring stories from our wonderful volunteers as well.

First up is Heather Hudson. Heather is an elementary school teacher and has been since she moved to New York in 2010. She has been committed to Kidstuf and has built deep relationships with the kids in her class. She goes to their baseball games; she remembers when they transfer to a new school. This summer Heather will be moving to Chicago and next year, getting married. We are sad to see her go, and we will miss her heart and her leadership, but we wish her all the best in this new chapter of her life. I cannot express just how much Heather has helped and encouraged me over the years. You can watch or read her "Why I Serve" moment from service on Sunday below.

What was the most impactful thing about serving in Kidstuf?

I think one of the most impactful things was realizing that we do on Sundays has an impact on the kids’ lives. A couple of years ago a girl came into Sunday school and said “Miss Heather, I drew a picture of you!” And it was a red-headed girl riding a dolphin, which I still have, to this day. And it was super sweet, but it also reminded me that even though we just spend one hour with them on Sundays, they’re thinking about it during the week. They’re thinking about God, they’re thinking about Jesus. They’re memorizing their memory verses; they’re tithing downstairs. They’re being generous. They’re asking follow-up questions to the lessons. So that one hour a week is continued throughout the week.

What was something you learned from teaching these kids?

The going rate for the tooth fairy has gone way up since I was a kid! We have a lot of missing teeth and a lot of rich kids.
If you’ve ever spent time around kids, you know they’re inquisitive about everything. Everything is why, why, why. Asking really good questions about our lessons - sometimes I’ll have to pray about the answer or refer back to the Bible. And some of the things they’re asking about down there, we’re struggling with up here, like why do bad things happen to good people. So learning with them has really helped my faith journey. It’s nice to do it side by side with the kids who are learning with me.

Thanks, Heather. We love you.