There Are No Throwaway Kids
The news cycle moves fast. Headlines come and go. But for some children in our communities, the impact of those headlines does not disappear when the cameras move on.
This week, in our free summer STEM learning camp, two children—a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old from two different families – arrived carrying burdens no child should have to carry. In both cases, their parents had been taken into custody by ICE. To clarify, these children came to camp on Monday, June 15th and came home to learn their parents were gone.
Think about that for a moment.
These are elementary school kids. Kids who should be worried about robots, coding projects, and whether their team wins the next challenge. Instead, they are walking into camp carrying fear, confusion, grief, and uncertainty.
And the people standing in front of them? High school students. Young leaders doing incredible work, teaching curriculum they developed, with the support and guidance of Bob DeGour – a Naval Academy graduate and Blue and Gold Officer whose mentorship has helped lead a half dozen students to appointments at the Naval Academy and admissions to some of the best colleges in the country.
They are prepared to teach STEM curriculum.
They are not prepared to help a child process what it means when both parents are suddenly gone.
And honestly, who is?
That’s the question we must ask ourselves—not politically, but morally.
Who stands in the gap?
Who makes sure these children have food, stability, and someone to reassure them that they are safe? Who helps them navigate school, camp, and life while their world is unraveling? Who protects their hope?
Because whether you agree or disagree with immigration policy is beside the point when a child is left holding the consequences.
There are no throwaway kids.
Not here. Not anywhere.
At the Y, we see this every day. We see children for what they are: full of potential, deserving of care, and worthy of dignity. We know that when a family is disrupted, the ripple effects spread far beyond one household. It touches classrooms, neighborhoods, churches, and community organizations.
And right now, there is a moral obligation for all of us to step forward.
Not with rhetoric. With action.
We’re working alongside Matthew Peters and his team at the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center to make sure these children, and any child who needs it, have a safe and loving place to be. Every day. All summer in Y camping programs, at no cost, with no barriers.
Others in our community are stepping in as well, making sure backpacks, bathing suits, and the daily essentials these children need are ready and waiting,
That is what community looks like.
Not standing by. Stepping in.
If you want to get involved, support the organizations doing the hard work of standing in the gap.
- Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center
- The YMCA of the Chesapeake
- Choptank Community Health
- And the many other local organizations and churches serving families who are vulnerable and hurting right now.
Because while the news cycle may move on, these children will still wake up tomorrow needing someone.
That someone is us. All of us.
Robbie Gill is the Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA of the Chesapeake
