On a Saturday afternoon, some would expect the average college student to either sleep in until much later in the day, study, or spend their free time away from the campus.  This wasn’t the case for several students, who spent their time volunteering in the 2nd Annual Kids Carnival at E.S. King Village Apartments.

Many who volunteered this past Saturday were resident advisors of Wolf Village Apartments, representatives of various organizations of NCSU, or just wanted to do it for individual purposes.  Nearly 100 children came to ES King Village to enjoy the festivities prepared for entirely by the student volunteers. Many of the children who were invited came from both ES King Village and the downrown branch of the YMCA.  The event started last fall initially as program to give disadvantage children who couldn’t go to the North Carolina State Fair a fair-like environment.  “It started last year with about 40 kids with a really low budget,” recounted Shaneka Thurman, a senior in communication-media and one of the original planners of the Kids Carnival.  “So many kids came out and had so much fun that they wanted to have it again.”   Leigh Allen, a senior and another of the initial creators of the carnival, mentioned the carnival from this year from the one previous was drastically different.  “We were able to collect 8 times the amount of money compared to the previous year so the food was better, the games were more exciting, and the prizes were awesome!”  She also commented on the hard work put on by all the volunteers before and after the festivites.  “It was a lot of work, maybe a little too much at times, but it was well worth it once the day actually arrived,” she said.  “It is just an amazing day and I am so happy to have planned it two years in a row.”
The reaction from the ones who volunteered were highly positive.  “I think the kids really enjoyed it,” said Danielle Roseborough, a senior in communications.  “I think it was good to see college students interact with younger children.”  Jason McLeod, a sophomore in accounting, also agreed about the event.  “It was fun.  I wish I got to do something like this when I was a kid.”
Students and children weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the Kids Carnival.  Bingu Wang, an alum of NCSU and a mother of one child, said that “it was wonderful.  I think all the kids liked it.”