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Rosewood AKTION Club Completes Zoo Service Project During Active Summer
Prolific American anthropologist Margaret Mead once spoke the now-famous words, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world ....” Rosewood Miracle Workers AKTION Club has been putting Mead’s inspirational words to the test this summer.
Most recently, more than a dozen Rosewood AKTION Club members completed a service project at Great Bend’s Brit Spaugh Zoo, on Aug. 4. Several of them worked on shoveling out rubber mulch from a walking path on the west side of the zoo grounds, an area which is getting a refreshed look with new mulch and a new wooden border.
“We enjoy all the help we can get and we appreciate their efforts,” said lead Zoo keeper Ashley Burdick about Rosewood’s volunteers. “They are doing such a great job. We are slowly getting this project completed. They now have a hand in helping to make this area look a lot nicer than it was before.”
Other club members, not involved in the walkway project, picked up trash around the zoo grounds.
Volunteer Efforts – Rosewood Miracle Workers AKTION Club members Keith Boyer (left) and Jason Ehrentraut shovel rubber mulch at Great Bend’s Brit Spaugh Zoo on Aug. 4 as participants in the AKTION Club’s service project. The zoo project is one of four club activities that members have participated in during the summer months.
AKTION Club members participating in the zoo service project were: Keith Boyer, Curtis Clawson, Kurtis Coleman, Larry Clements, Jason Ehrentraut, Abbey Stanley, Taylor Hertach, Jonathon Howe, Cheryl Mendenhall, Dawn Specht, Carrie Stickney, Rita Mestas and Leann Wegele. Assisting the group was AKTION Club sponsor Frankie Pelster, along with Rosewood Services employees Emily Komarek, Ashley Mallow and Ashley Romans.
Following completion of the projects, as a special “thank-you” to AKTION Club volunteers who attended, Burdick allowed them to meet some of the zoo’s furry inhabitants. Club members interacted with a bearded dragon, an armadillo and a chinchilla.
“Our AKTION Club members like the zoo very much,” said Pelster. “When we were discussing possible service projects, the first organization mentioned was our zoo. They have been excited to get the opportunity to come out and help our zoo and community.”
Besides the zoo service project, Rosewood AKTION Club members have held two garage sales this summer to help cover costs of club activities and to prepare for a future community project. And in June, eight club members attended the annual Self Advocate Coalition of Kansas Conference in Topeka. The SACK Conference provides an opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to meet, share and learn from each other and experts in the field. Conference participants had the opportunity to choose from different workshops during four breakout sessions.
Rosewood SACK Conference participants were: David Edwardson, Victoria Ostrander, Ivan Smith, Cheryl Mendenhall, Darren Brown, Kandyce Miskell, Josh Trimmer and Karla Franklin. Joining them as sponsors were Frankie Pelster and Regina Millenheft.
Rosewood AKTION Club is an affiliate of the national Kiwanis organization that promotes service in action for people with developmental disabilities. The area club allows Rosewood clients to be actively involved in the community and to positively impact the lives of others.
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Find more about Rosewood Services online: RosewoodServices.com
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For more information, contact Frankie Pelster, Rosewood AKTION Club sponsor, employmentservices@rosewoodservices.com, 620-603-6502
Aug. 12, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Story by: Michael Dawes, marketing director, Rosewood Services, 620-796-2242, MichaelD@rosewoodservices.com
