Richland County

Lessons Learned

Reflecting Back, Looking Forward

SOUTH CAROLINA AGENCIES SHARE STORIES ABOUT A YEAR OF CHALLENGES & NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Creative Programming in Richland County During the Start of the Pandemic

By Adairius Williams, Community Outreach Coordinator, Richland County Recreation Commission

With the paralyzing impact of the global pandemic, many industries, along with recreation, were forced to adjust to new normalcies. From the reduction in operating hours to even the closing of recreational facilities, programming was majorly impacted and even limited for an extended period. With the world forced to stay inside for several months, the community missed social interactions through parks and recreation and was immediately recognized as being essential to the healing of our community. With no one in our buildings and signature programs postponed and canceled, programming during these times required innovation and creativity. In the summer of 2020, Richland County Recreation Commission was unable to hold a Summer Camp due to the unknowns of the Covid-19 virus at the time. This was disappointing not only to the community but to our staff as well. We love the summer because it gives staff a wonderful chance to learn and grow with our young participants. Being that we were unable to bring the youth to our facilities last summer, we came up with the wonderful idea to bring summer camp to them in their homes through our “Rec 2 Go” summer camp drive-thru bag distributions. We chose six sites throughout our county to host drive-thru events and distributed over 600 “Rec 2 Go” bags. These bags were filled with exciting games and toys, including, board games, puzzles, coloring and activity books, arts and crafts, playing cards, jump ropes, jacks, basketballs, soccer balls, plastic bats and balls, frisbees, boomerangs, Play Doh, fidget spinners, bluetooth speakers, as well as kid-sized masks and small hand sanitizers. We were able to partner with a local feeding program to provide a meal and a snack with every bag. This program not only showed our ability as an agency to adapt to the times but more importantly provided a much-needed service to the community. Due to the success of these events, we will look to continue to provide “Rec 2 Go” summer distributions to youth in communities who are unable to attend our summer camps. This is one example of how we as an agency were able to live up to our mission of enriching lives and connecting communities through diverse recreational opportunities.