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Early Saturday morning, December 8, 2007, three Yakima Clowns set out for their 3-hour trek to the flooded areas of western Washington.  “OOCHEE” aka Maureen Mould and two other clown friends spontaneously headed off under a sparkling blue sky and a majestic snow-covered Mt. Rainer.  . 

At their 1st Red Cross shelter, housed at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Chehalis, the clowns were excitedly welcomed by anxiously awaiting children and tired Red Cross volunteers.  For 1 ½ hours, the clowns brought lots of smiles and laughs armed with their funny antics, off-key Christmas songs, tricks, stickers and squeakers, spinning plates, red sponge noses, Polaroid pict ures and colorful reindeer balloons.  The Red Cross Volunteers, who were making lunch, kept commenting on how wonderful it was to finally see smiles on so many faces.  Amidst the fun activities, some families shared about their loss of all their possessions and how they were waiting for living quarters to be found for them.  One mother with her 2-month old sleeping baby girl told of how hard it was to stay in the shelter with her little bundle. All that she had for her daughter was the car seat in which she slept peacefully, even through all the noise the clowns seemed to create.     

The next stop was at the Salvation Army Distribution Center where the clowns were greeted by piles of donated clothes, counters full of food and tables and chairs set up for families as they waited for their number to be called to speak with someone to asses their needs for assistance.  At one table, a middle-aged woman told about taking in her two sisters and some of their children who had lost everything.  The families had to be split up since there wasn’t enough space in her home.  She shared that her husband was out of work and there were not enough blankets for the kids so they were sleeping in their clothes. The kids had to wear adult socks that day since there were no children’s socks in the house to share.  As she was telling her story to the clowns, a thin, brown-haired woman came up to the table and gave each of the adults a $20 bill and told them that it was a gift from God.  Each of the ladies’ eyes filled with tears as one said, “I can get a blanket now,” while another said, “We can go get socks for the kids.” Immediately, OOCHEE pulled out her feather duster and dusted a small object in her hand and said, “It looks like you need a Kleenex, as everyone was handed a small brightly-colored sponge clean “X.”  They laughed amidst the tears, shaking their heads and telling the clowns how much they needed them to be there right then.  As the clowns were leaving, they ran into a Civil Air Patrol volunteer returning from relief work, covered in mud from his boots up to his armpits.  He was ready for a break from his work and a good laugh.

Then on to the National Guard Armory where the Red Cross volunteers enjoyed playing around with the clowns along with the children.  There was a group of boys who fell in love with their colorful spinning plates and worked at balancing them on their hands and fingers. An older boy tentatively watched the fun activities   from across the large gymnasium.  It wasn’t long when he came over to try his talents with spinning and balancing plates.  The clowns captured yet another heart with smiles and their infamous brightly colored spinning plates.  

As the clowns packed their gear in the car trunk for their 3-hour return trip home, they all had a feeling in their hearts that they had made a small but significant difference in the lives of those who had lost their homes and those who were lending a helping hand. Margaret Meade once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  What a blessing to be such a “joy-bringer!” 

Our clown lives seem to be in a blur at times as we excitedly head off to bring more smiles and comic relief to the next unknown place.  

Second Trip Back to Western Washington

The children stood up and cheered…all 460 of them at Jefferson-Lincoln Elementary School in Centralia, WA on May 22, 2008, as the clowns from “OOCHEE’s” Clowning Connection in Yakima, WA, presented their principal with 500 pairs of new children’s socks.  The 1500 pairs of socks wee collaboratively donated by Wesley United Methodist Church,Union Gap Elementary Kiwanis K-Kids and Kamiakin Kiwanis of Yakima and other generous community donors.  The sock drive was organized by Maureen Mould, AkA “OOCHEE” the Clown. She also serves as the Kiwanis Advisor for the Union Gap Elementary School K-Kids.

Each year since 1999, “OOCHEE” and friends travel on a clown outreach compassionate clowning trip to bring joy and smiles to those who have suffered loss and trauma in their lives.  From May 19-22, the clowns performed an original assembly, written by Maureen, at 4 schools.  They also visited Providence Medical Center in the Centralia area affected by the flood in early December.  New pairs of socks were given to each child in every school as well as distributed at a survivor’s celebration at Bethel Community Church in flood-swept Adna. 

Besides socks, notes of encouragement were also given to each school. These notes were handmade and written by the K-Kids at Union Gap Elementary.  A Kindergarten teacher at one school where the clowns had performed shared that the day after the children received their socks, they all came to school the next day proudly wearing and showing off their “clown socks.”  “What an impressive program you clowns did for us,” she went on to say, “thank you so very much.”

At Boisfort Elementary School, a small K-8 school in the rural community of Curtis and badly damaged by the flood, the clowns were the 1st outside assembly to ever come to their school.  The excitement of both children and staff filled the gym that was once entirely covered with cleaning supplies last December.  “We only lost 5 days of school even though we had over 14 inches of water and mud in our building,” said the Superintendant.

At another school, a teacher told the clowns that the socks were the best thing to ever be given to the children.  She said, “Some of the kids in my class wear the same pair of socks for the entire week.  You can imagine what that means,” as she pinched her nose.

At Providence Medical Center, which had been totally inaccessible during the floods, staff, patients and their family members were all adorned with a red sponge clown nose and received a special remembrance with a Polaroid picture of themselves and the clowns.  Lots of laughter was heard in the rooms, hallways and nurses stations.  The Medical Center had never had clowns in their facility before but after an 1 ½ hours of relieving stress and bringing belly laughs, the clowns have been asked to return next year.

The rebuilding continues to go on.  Each personal story shared with the clowns was of lost property and homes but one thread carried through…”so many people came to help…” and that’s what the clowns did in their own special way. 

If you would like to support this “Compassionate Clowning” outreach, a tax-deductible donation can be made to: Kaleidoscope Konnections and mailed to: 3416 Taylor Way, Yakima, WA 98902

***Maureen is available to share a moving PowerPoint Presentation on her incredible clown experiences. Give her a call at 509-452-2296.

For fees and scheduling contact:

Maureen Mould, MS
509-452-2296
inspire@maureenmould.org

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