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Community Groups Making Impact in Rosewood AKTION Club’s Coloring Book and Crayon Drive
Caring for Community - UnitedHealthcare representatives deliver their coloring books and crayons, donated on Nov. 8, to the Rosewood Miracle Workers AKTION Club. Standing left to right: Katie Leikam (UHC care coordinator); Tonya Burton (RW AKTION Club assistant sponsor); Amanda Rome (UHC care coordinator); Robin Rziha (UHC care coordinator); Frankie Pelster (RW AKTION Club sponsor); and Christine Martinez (UHC care coordinator).
Coloring books and crayons have been a popular item on store shelves in the Great Bend area the past few months. That’s because area groups are stepping up to bolster the Rosewood Miracle Workers AKTION Club’s Coloring Book and Crayon Drive, which began last September and ends at the end of this month.
Two area organizations conducted separate efforts to contribute to the color book and crayon cause that benefits area children. Representatives from UnitedHealthcare donated 250 coloring books and 225 crayon boxes last Wednesday. And students from Great Bend High School’s National Honor Society followed that up by donating 138 coloring books and 66 boxes of crayons, which they collected during a home Great Bend High School football game last month.
“This makes my heart happy to see so many donations coming in from our community,” said Rosewood AKTION Club sponsor Frankie Pelster. “It’s our seventh year conducting this drive and community involvement is way above where it has ever been. Our AKTION Club members are elated to get such a strong showing of support for their drive.”
UnitedHealthcare employees combined two teams of their own to provide their large donation. One employee organized a donation match with the company that will go toward the group’s final donation count.
“Talking to a few people who are part of the AKTION Club, I knew they were super excited about this drive, so I wanted to help with their effort,” said United Healthcare care coordinator Amanda Rome. “Katie (Leikam) and I are on two different teams, but we combined forces for this donation.”
Great Bend High School National Honor Society rallied their supporters during a home football game and that resulted in a big score of donated items for the AKTION Club drive.
“We like to help where ever we can, and of course we wanted to help with this drive,” said GBHS student and NHS officer Madelynn Gregg. “It was just a matter of how we could become involved. … There was a big social media push going out to our Booster Club, and our admin that maintains social media pages at our school helped, too. We also advertised the message around the school. We had a couple of days to get it done and were able to spread the word and have a good turn-out for the drive.”
“Of course, we knew when we asked for those coloring books and crayons, that people were going to step up at our school and donate a lot of items,” added fellow GBHS student and NHS officer Gavin Hirsh.
GBHS Honor Society Donation – Members of the Great Bend High School National Honor Society donate coloring books and crayons to Rosewood AKTION Club during the Club’s November meeting on Nov. 11. Standing left to right are officers for Rosewood AKTION Club and GBHS NHS: Destiny Thomas (RW), Josh Trimmer (RW), Kaycie Teghtmeyer (GBHS NHS sponsor); Madelynn Gregg (GBHS NHS); Gavin Hirsh (GBHS NHS); Kurtis Coleman (RW), and Ashley Hullett (RW).
Included with the drive, Rosewood AKTION Club is in a friendly competition with Rosewood Services employees to see which group can raise the most items. Community donated items raised from the drive will go toward the AKTION Club count.
“I think Rosewood Day Services may be going down this year, but it remains to be seen because they’ve been tremendous donors to this cause the past four years,” said Pelster. “I can’t say enough good things about the generosity and support that Rosewood employees have shown to our AKTION Club, especially when it comes to this community cause.”
People can still drop off coloring book and crayon donations, along with monetary donations for the purchase of coloring books and crayons to two locations in downtown Great Bend. Those locations are Rosewood Furniture Gallery, 1607 Main Street; and Rosewood Bargain Barn, 1215 Main Street.
Attending Rosewood AKTION Club’s meeting last Friday, Gregg and Hirsh, along with GBHS NHS faculty sponsor Kaycie Teghtmeyer, experienced the exuberance of AKTION Club members as they received the donations from the National Honor Society officers. It was a consequential moment for the GBHS students.
“We don’t always get to see the end result from our efforts,” explained Gregg. “Getting the invitation to come and see how excited they are about this drive, and to see how we are actually helping them to succeed in their effort, it’s a great feeling to be a part of that. You’re getting to see your hard work pay off and how happy it makes others. There’s no better feeling in the world than knowing you are truly helping.”
For questions about Rosewood AKTION Club’s Coloring Book and Crayon Drive, contact Pelster at 620-603-6502; employmentspecialist@RosewoodServices.com.
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.
UnitedHealthcare donation - Collection from 250 coloring books and 225 crayon boxes.
-RW-
Download Coloring Book and Crayon Drive flier, http://rosewoodservices.com/assets/files/AKTION_CLUB_2022_Color_Book_Crayon_Drive.pdf.
Find more about Rosewood Services online, http://rosewoodservices.com
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For more information, contact Frankie Pelster, Rosewood AKTION Club sponsor, employmentspecialist@rosewoodservices.com, 620-603-6502
November 15, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Story by: Michael Dawes, director of PR, Rosewood Services, 620-792-2536, MichaelD@rosewoodservices.com
