Miami Children's Museum -- Orientation

Today I visited the Miami Children's Museum in hopes of volunteering their Wellness Center exhibit. I also saw a few of my nursing buddies there (Hi, Latoya!). We toured the museum's different exhibits for kids (alot of hand-on learning activities from infants to school-aged). The hospital room looks impressive -- a giant set of teeth where kids can learn about oral care and emergency room where kids can learn different parts of the body. Alot of different people from MDC and high school student came to the orientation. Most, if not all, are there for the community service hours. That's not a bad thing, at least, you get to choose where you get to complete your hours.

The volunteer coordinator did say something "interesting" in the orientation that gave off mixed messages about the volunteering experience. She emphasized treating kids from "poor" neighborhoods who come to the museum "free days" as well as "rich kids" who pay more than $300 for galas at the museum. This suggests some of the problems of favoring private philanthropy (such as catering to big donors) over the public who may not have the funds to support the museum, but would benefit from the education tools that abound there. The problem with non-profit organizations in the US that public interests are usually funded by private donors who make up the majority of the funding. If the money came from a public source, the way that nonprofits work might be more democratic.