Giving back is as much about receiving as it is actually giving.
As an honorary member of Dermatology & Skin Health’s team, I recently volunteered my time to teach campers at The Works Health Club in Somersworth about summer time skin health.
Dermatology & Skin Health have been a longtime client of ours here at Boldwerks, and, like many of our clients, the relationship often buds deeper than that of a strictly business. As the content director here at Boldwerks I enjoy really integrating and immersing myself into the operative fabric of all of our clients. It helps me get a better understanding of their mission, enabling me to write more effective content for the client’s marketing initiatives.
One of the big focuses of Dermatology & Skin Health’s summer has been the outreach and education of proper skin care techniques to combat the sun’s harmful UV rays. With that, I’ve written an array of blogs, and features that addressed these practices. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed cultivating these materials. As a fair-skinned, redheaded Irishman, I’ve subjected myself to a number of sunburns over the years – more than I care to count (or admit to). Throughout the course of this summertime engagement, and of educating myself to no end about the topic at hand to write these pieces, I’m proud to announce that as of this moment, I have not been the subject of a single sunburn this summer. Not a single one. At nearly 33 years of age, this is the first summer in my life that this is the case.
So, what better way to give back, than to preach the gospel of skincare in the flesh – in front of actual “students”? Now, this wasn’t you’re run of the mill classroom type of environment. No, this was an all-out engaging affair that included five stations setup in the field behind The Works facility. My task? To tend to the scavenger hunt portion of the day. Teaching kids about five simple objects that can help protect yourself from the sun’s UV rays, and having them find said objects amongst a sea of scattered items in the field. Those objects?
- Sunblock
- Sunglasses
- Sunhat
- Sun shirt
- Umbrella (yes, umbrellas serve a purpose beyond merely keeping you dry in the midst of a rainstorm…)
It was a great way to spend a day, and I deeply appreciate the invite by Dermatology & Skin Health’s practice manager, Laurie Seavey. It may seem pretty simple on the surface, but I really have learned a lot this summer about skincare, and was happy to give back to a client I value, and who has given so much to me, and to everyone here at Boldwerks.
Remember: Pale is the new tan…
And if that isn’t enough, my other key takeaway from the day was information from a 4-year-old girl who taught me that Twizzlers and cherries are similar in that they both get their red color from an intricate process that involves being dyed with beetle shells. Did you know cherries are initially yellow? Yeah, neither did I. Noted. Here’s to the beetles who have fallen and donated their shells to bring such vibrant color* to the world…
*Note: The red hue that shows up when contracting a sunburn is not the result of having your skin dyed by beetle shells. It’s serious. Protect yourself!