More than 50 people – parents, siblings, friends, and others – turned out to recognize the achievements of the Rosedale Youth Volunteer Club at an awards dinner and ceremony on May 12.

One of RDA's youth programs, the Volunteer Club consisted of 18 fifth-grade students at Frank Rushton and T.A. Edison elementary schools. Each month, the group met after-school to study a different topic of community interest and complete a service project related to that topic. Some sessions were held on-site at the school; during others, the group took field trips to off-site locations.

The Volunteer Club completed a variety of service projects this year, such as: making holiday cards for seniors and get-well cards for people in the hospital; sorting donated canned goods; walking and playing with abandoned dogs up for adoption at a local no-kill animal shelter; writing letters to state representatives to advocate for school funding; and picking up trash at Rosedale Park and in other parts of the neighborhood.

The goal of the service-learning program was to increase civic awareness and community involvement among the participants.

At the celebration event, Kristin Riott – Community Outreach Director for Bridging The Gap, a local environmental education and advocacy organization – spoke to the attendees about “5 Green Things” they can do to help protect and care for the environment.

Cynthia Robinson – a life coach with the Kauffman Scholars program and – also addressed the group and encouraged the students and their families to believe in themselves and their ability to make a difference in their community.

Each Volunteer Club student received a certificate of achievement and a bronze medallion with the inscribed words, "2009 Rosedale Community Service Award."

Sarah Stueve and Shannon Eberlein, the Volunteer Club's adult sponsors, were also honored at the ceremony for giving their time to benefit the students in the program.

Thank you to Westwood Apple Market for providing a significant discount on the food and drinks for the awards dinner and to the donors that made the Volunteer Club possible this year: Rosedale Optimist Club, H&R Block, and Rainbow Car Wash.