WIESBADEN, Germany - In rain and shine and box by box, Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers volunteers provided free labor and a load of help to a local German kindergarten July 21-25.
Känguru Kindergarten, an Erbenheim school for special needs students, needed to move next door to its new building, but lacked the funds to hire a professional moving company. Nineteen BOSS volunteers, Army and Air Force, stepped in with muscle power and can-do attitudes.
"This was a great opportunity to help our local Wiesbaden community," said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Detheridge, a career counselor with the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade. "To help the teachers there at the Känguru Kindertagesstätte (Kangaroo Kindergarten) with the move and make life a little easier for them, was very fulfilling. My mother is a teacher, so I have a good idea of how much work goes into educating children."
"This is a very nice cooperation with the Americans," said Stan Albers, a personal assistant for the chairman of the non-profit school. "We didn't have it before, and it was very hard. We would have had to pay for movers otherwise, so for us, this is very good."
The house the kindergarten is moving out of was designed to be a residence not a school but will be renovated to provide more space for the school.
"The city and people of Wiesbaden have been great hosts and helped me culturally transition after moving from the U.S.," said Pfc. Zachary Kondas, 66th MI Brigade. "Helping out at the Kangaroo Kindergarten was a great way for me to give back to the Wiesbaden community. I hope future volunteer opportunities like this will be available to Soldiers so they will have the chance to give back as much as this city has given to them."
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