Roller skating, bowling and the zoo are just a few trips that Binghamton University students can take weekly with underprivileged children in the area.

SUNY Kids is a student-created and student-run club at BU, formerly known as the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, that picks up children via school bus at designated stops and brings them on trips around Binghamton and Johnson City. Participating children are found through an application process by Broome County Social Services. Around 30 kids go on a trip each week, and range in age from 5 to 13.

Amy Gee, the vice president of SUNY Kids and a senior majoring in accounting, said the club’s purpose is to provide the children with a safe place and an older person to look up to.

“SUNY Kids is important because we work with solely foster or underprivileged kids, so kids that might not have as much as some other kids,” Gee said. “We bring them to a safe environment where they can interact with and have a role model. We take an interest in their lives.”

According to Gee, any student can volunteer for a SUNY Kids trip if they sign up for the club’s Listserv. Each week the club sends out an email asking for volunteers, and the first six to eight students who respond can attend that week’s trip.

SUNY Kids is funded by the Student Association, which covers costs of the weekly trips, transportation and Sodexo lunches. The only events the club funds itself are their two end-of-the-semester parties, where they have an on-campus celebration and give the kids presents.

Kaitlin Rottkamp, the president of SUNY Kids and a junior double-majoring in psychology and human development, said that she enjoys the opportunity to hang out with the children while they encounter new experiences.

“My favorite part is going to all these places with the kids and having them try things they’ve never tried before,” Rottkamp said. “Especially with roller skating, it’s really nice to have the kids try that. Just giving them new experiences and seeing how happy they get and proud they get when they try things.”

Past experience as a camp counselor is what encouraged Zachary Silverman, the publicity chair of SUNY Kids and a junior majoring in psychology, to get involved in the club. He said that SUNY Kids lets the children embrace and enjoy their childhood.

Rottkamp said that SUNY Kids’ overall goal is to ensure that children have fun and get to spend time with students who genuinely want to help out.

“We are trying to provide a safe place for these kids,” Rottkamp said. “A lot of them are fostered or underprivileged so we just want to give them a really fun day and a safe place to come … where there are people there who want to talk them.”