Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Helping the kids

Normally, Kevin Waldrop advises people on proper skin and hair care. But this summer, he'll be taking on a project that's completely different.

Waldrop will join a team of 25 volunteers in Halaucesti, Romania, that will provide care and extracurricular activities for three orphanages. The six-year-old project is the brainchild of Anita Roddick, owner of The Body Shop health-care chain. Waldrop is area manager of the Boulevard and Fashion Show mall shops.

"This will make me appreciate what I have in this country," Waldrop said of the Aug. 24 trip. "These kids need attention. It's hard to put in words why I want to do it. I just want to help."

Unlike orphanages in this country where extracurricular activities are provided, those in Romania are very basic. The Halaucesti facilities also only have outhouses and water must be drawn from a well. One orphanage, Waldrop said, uses gasoline-generated electricity.

Waldrop expects to organize games, participate in arts and crafts classes, give music lessons, conduct daily walks and put on stage plays. He was told he'd be working with children ages 8-12.

"It used to be required that Romanian women have four to five children each," Waldrop said of the old Communist government. As a result, many families couldn't take care of their children and abandoned them in orphanages.

Roddick saw that the children's living conditions were horrible when she visited Romania six years ago, Waldrop said, and it was then that she decided to get involved through The Body Shop's Eastern Europe Relief Drive.

Each year, Body Shop employees are encouraged to volunteer in the company's two-week Grand Summer Playscheme project. Participants, upon acceptance, are responsible for raising $2,500 to cover food, lodging and travel expenses to Romania.

Waldrop applied in February and was told last month that he was accepted. So far, he and employees at The Body Shop stores in Las Vegas have raised $500 by getting $1 donations from customers for a three-minute back massage using a wooden ball massager.

Waldrop said he'll be receiving a private $500 donation soon, but is hoping the community will contribute for the rest of his expenses.

Besides this project, Waldrop said the company gets involved locally in charity events. It has raised money for Aid for AIDS of Nevada, the Shade Tree Shelter for homeless women with children and Safe House in Henderson, a shelter for battered women.

Waldrop believes he was picked for the team partially because of his Air Force experience as a flight planner during the Persian Gulf War. He also drew flight plans for a Turkey operation shortly after Operation Desert Storm.

"They were looking for people who could put up with basic living conditions," Waldrop said. "I've always liked to travel, and I've seen a lot of poverty. I think they knew I wanted to go somewhere and make a difference."

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