 Lake Cumberland is cleaner and 30 students are wiser about community service today, thanks to a special cleanup event. On June 25, students in the elite Rogers Scholars program picked up 100 bags of trash and 18 tires at the Old Waitsboro Crossing boat ramp, near Bronston.
The students, who will be high school juniors this fall, are from 42 counties in southern and eastern Kentucky. They were selected through a highly competitive process to be Rogers Scholars. The service project is part of the program’s goal of encouraging a long-term commitment to the students’ communities.
“This was a fun bonding experience for the Scholars, and they now know how good it feels to make a difference,” said Jessica Melton, Associate Director of Education and Training for The Center for Rural Development, which sponsors the Rogers Scholars program. “They are the future of this region. If they get hooked on community service now, we all will benefit as they pour their time and talents into our communities.”
“It’s always eye opening to pick up trash, especially from a drinking water source like Lake Cumberland,” said Tammie Wilson, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of PRIDE, one of The Center’s partners in hosting the event. “When volunteers see how trash can pile up and become a problem, they usually vow to never litter again. We thank the Rogers Scholars for volunteering and hope they will be PRIDE ambassadors in their hometowns.”
The Rogers Scholars program is an intensive, one-week summer course that emphasizes technological skills development and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and commitment to rural Kentucky. Sixty Rogers Scholars are divided between two sessions. The first session began on June 22 and ends June 27. The second session will be held July 6-11.
The Center and PRIDE were created by Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-5) to encourage and assist communities with creating long-term opportunities for their young people. PRIDE’s role is to promote personal responsibility for the environment. The Center addresses several facets of community development, including encouraging Kentucky’s next generation of community and business leaders. As part of its youth development mission, the Center created the Rogers Scholars program in 1998.
The Friends of Lake Cumberland is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that assists the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with cleaning the lake.
For more information about the Rogers Scholars program, please visit www.rogersscholars.com. To learn more about the Friends of Lake Cumberland, please call Dudley Hosch at 561-4399.
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