Page 75 of 3 Daddies to Go

Kendall smiles.

“You were delinquents. And look how you turned out! We should use you as examples. Or maybe not. It might encourage kids to be terrible if they think they’ll turn out okay in the end no matter what.”

“Hey, Delia,” Kendall says when we approach the receptionist. “Can I get three visitor tags for my friends?”

The young woman nods.

“I thought you were off for the day, Kendall? What brought you back?”

“Tag, Tanner, and Trace are from out of town. I wanted them to see what we do here at the Sunshine Program. Maybe they can get one started up in New York City.”

Delia smiles.

“That would be great! I bet Sandra would love to expand into a bigger city. Imagine how many kids there are in New York who could use our help!”

I have no doubt we could use the Sunshine Program in New York City. The guys and I share a look. I could find the land, Tanner could find the funding, and Trace could work on the website.

I shake away the thought. We’re already getting Kendall’s non-profit off the ground and helping the Mama’s Home family get back on their feet. We shouldn’t take on another project right now, at least not personally. Which isn’t to say I won’t make some calls when I get home to see if I have any friends looking for a philanthropic venture.

“Exactly!” Kendall says. “I’m hoping to sell them on the program. Thanks for the passes, Delia!”

We leave the office and head down a long corridor lined with classrooms.

“Sorry about that,” Kendall says. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I had to come up with a reason for showing you around.”

“No worries. We might be able to help get the Sunshine Program started up in New York.”

She smiles.

“That’d be great, but you’ve already done so much.”

Kendall studies our faces. Does she know about the non-profit? That’s not possible. I bet she’s thinking about the thing with Mama’s Home. She must’ve heard that someone helped them, and she suspects us. Her suspicion is right, but Tanner still wants to keep his involvement a secret, so none of us say anything.

Unsatisfied, Kendall moves on.

“So this is one of the main hallways. This one is specifically used for STEM, you know the acronym for science, technology, engineering and math. We have a couple of science rooms, a math room, a computer room, and an engineering room. Most of the time, the kids watch videos to learn new things. On occasion, we get a volunteer, and they run experiments. The kids usually have a great time.”

We peek into one of the rooms where a group of girls wearing goggles are doing a chemistry experiment. Kendall leads us a few rooms down to where a few kids are working on a robot. “Some of our older kids are entering a national robotics tournament next year, so they’re practicing,” she explains. “They don’t know what the final specs will be, so this is just a prototype. They built it themselves with very little help from their mentors.”

Down another hallway, Kendall shows us the arts rooms. There are painting, sculpting, and digital art areas, as well as reading and writing rooms. “We put out newsletters for the kids’ parents, and we always include some of the kids’ writing. We usually do a theme each month, and the best writing for each theme gets sent out.”

We make it outside, where kids are running around wildly.

“Most of the time is spent outside, when the weather is nice,” Kendall says. “There’s a baseball field, a softball field, and a soccer field that works for football, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee, and pretty much any other sport the kids want to play. Plus, we have a basketball court and a tennis court. The basketball hoops were already here, but Margot, the activities director, had the tennis nets put in to add variety. It’s been pretty popular among the kids.”

No one is playing tennis right now, but there are a few balls littered around the court. Most of the kids are playing kickball or shooting hoops.

“Ms. Kendall!” a young boy shouts, running up to her. “You said you were leaving!”

Kendall grins down at the little boy.

“I did leave, but I came back with some friends. This is Tag, Tanner, and Trace.”

“Hi, guys. I’m Brayden!”

We shake the little man’s hand. He looks proud for introducing himself like a grownup.

“Brayden’s parents own Mama’s Home,” Kendall says pointedly. “He was going to have to move, but someone miraculously helped his family out so they don’t have to.”