Estella Pita is a standout volunteer who assists the Day Camp Counselors with the daily administration of the Rec Innovation Summer Camp Program, including ensuring the well-being and safety of all participants, administering crafts and other activities, and providing daily feedback to camp staff. This year there were six Rec Innovation sites and Estella volunteered at three of them for seven weeks totaling 245 hours.
Estella is a member of our community with strong and lengthy ties to our HARD programs. She has been attending the East Avenue Summer Camp program every year since 2012 - except for 2020 due to Covid- when she was 4 1/2 years old! According to Estella's mother, "It is truly one of her favorite places to be and we have planned our summer vacations around it since!" Estella embodies our ideal of building community having grown up at HARD. It is obvious when you observe her with participants that she is eager and excited to give back.
This summer, Estella Pita was flexible about jumping in and helping where she was needed. She volunteered at East Ave Park and the Castro Valley Community Center Rec Innovation sites. Our East Ave Park site boasts 50 participants, and you can be sure that in any given day, Estella will interact will every one of them. The Day Camp Counselors call her the "Junior Counselor for everyone!" She cheers up the young first-time campers when they are anxious and always has a crowd of campers around her looking for attention. Estella assists with crafts and outdoor activities, and she does so with a huge smile on her face. It's obvious from Estella's enthusiastic attitude that she enjoys being at camp and that enthusiasm is contagious. Estella goes above and beyond the expectations for her role. She jumps in when needed whether it's scooping ice for snow cones or soothing a child with a scraped knee. Estella is an asset to the District and our summer camp programs.
