Mattie Waldstein
When my dad dropped me off at Pathfinder Village, our team leader told us we were sleeping on a gym floor. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay after all. I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep. But if I hadn’t stayed I would have missed out on some great opportunities. Pathfinder village is in upstate New York about 15 minutes away from Cooperstown, which is home to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Pathfinder Village is a home to eighty residents that have Down syndrome. In the village there is a bakery for the residents to hang out in. There are also ten houses and about eight residents live in each house. There is also a school on the property as well which about ten of the residents go to, though most of the residents are adults who go to work like any other adult would.

When our group was there we spent our mornings working on fixing up the property. We built a patio and benches so that that the residents could have more places to sit while they waited for their busses to come and pick them up for work. We also planted flowers for a garden. In the afternoons we spent time with the residents. For example, we were placed in one house to have dinner in and we got to know the residents and talked with them. I learned a lot about their families and their work. We also played games with the residents, like kick ball and soccer. I loved just spending time with the residents because they were all very excited about everything and they were never sad. The one thing that I learned when I was here is that they were always cheerful and happy. Whatever they were working on they would always give 100 percent. I am so glad I got the opportunity to volunteer at Pathfinder Village. I would give anything to go back their even if it did meant that I would have to sleep on a gym floor.

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