“Papa Steve!”, “Papa Steve!” the toddler room kids shout as they run out onto the playground, tiny buckets at the ready. Papa Steve, as he’s affectionately known at Hand in Hand, is getting his hands dirty, helping fill the playground with mulch and is having our littlest participants help.

Deb Mueller first connected with Hand in Hand as a volunteer during Read United with the United Way of the Quad Cities. She spent time reading to school-age kids at the Edwards Church location in Davenport.

Meet a few of our volunteers: Steve, Izzy, and Heidi!

I’m 14 years old and have volunteered at the summer camp and am now volunteering in the rec program. I was inspired by helping in a STEM class for special needs at my school and heard about Hand in Hand from my dad. I started volunteering during the first week of camp on July 2023.

Kim Nielsen, a Pediatric Physical Therapist with Genesis Pediatric Therapy Center, joined us for our first week of camp this year and was paired up with one of our campers to help give her a fulfilling experience as she went swimming, did archery, made crafts, and went fishing.