Serving the Served: A RYLA Challenge Project

RYLA project

Serving the Served: A RYLA Challenge Project

As part of the RYLA Conference in October, high-school students formed groups and were challenged to create a service project that would make a difference in the community. One group, who named their project Serving the Served, wanted to give back to the veterans in their community. The group consists of Nicole McKinney-West Haven, Nicholas Ribeiro - Notre Dame, Miranda D'Angelo - West Haven, Ryan Caine - Hopkins, Lourdes Bumgardner, and Ethan Evans.  Their idea was to help homeless veterans by providing them with basic necessities (food, clothing, hygiene, etc.) through a bi-annual collection. This project would be no small feat, and with the holidays approaching, they wanted to make a more immediate impact. Funded by local Rotary clubs, the Serving the Served group assembled 130 holiday gift bags full of playing cards, puzzle books, novels, sweets, and homemade holiday cards. On December 15th, the group delivered the gift bags to the very appreciative patients at the VA Hospital in West Haven. They hope to continue this as a yearly tradition, and we look forward to seeing all that this group will do in the future. You can learn more about this group on their website, at www.serving-the-served.webnode.com, or follow them on Instagram @serving_the_served