CELEBRATING SUCCESS – Voice Of The Township

Well, it’s been a busy time at our office for the last few months. After the deadline for applying for our two annual scholarships, the Recognizing Achievement Scholarship and the Academic Encouragement Award, we went to work reviewing the applications. We have completed that and will be presenting the awards at our July Wayne Township Trustee Board Meeting. I will write more about our winning scholars in my next column.

Because I believe strongly that education is key to the solution of poverty, I and my staff have for several years now combined an annual celebration with the kick-off of our scholarship season.

For the past eight years the Wayne Township Trustee Office has been hosting the annual Holiday Celebration to celebrate the season in December. At the first one, held in 2012 at the Roller Dome South in Waynedale, over 2,000 attendees came to enjoy food, music, skating and prizes. In 2013, we saw almost as many attendees in spite of that year’s blizzard conditions. After the Roller Dome closed the following year, we moved our winter party to the McMillen Park Community Center and added new games, bounce houses, a petting zoo and more gifts focused on promoting education.

This year we’ve decided to try something new, and our changes will be two-fold. One, we will be changing the venue for our celebration. On Saturday, October 12 from 12-3:00 PM, we will be closing off Barr Street and holding a fall Family Fun Day here on the township property at 320 E. Superior. We will have many of the same activities we enjoyed at McMillen plus more; games, entertainment, fun educational activities, and the great fall weather Fort Wayne enjoys in October. Two, starting in November, we will be providing each of our client’s children a gift for the holidays presented here during the family’s visit to our office.

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At the same time, we will begin handing out applications for the 2020 Recognizing Achievement Scholarship (the RAS) for high school seniors and, for the younger children, the Academic Encouragement Award (the AEA).
This will be our eighth year offering the RAS and our fourth offering the AEA. All of this is done without using Wayne Township tax dollars, and so we appeal to our community partners who have always stepped up with their generous support. We welcome all contributions of both money donations and volunteer time. If you wish to donate please contact my office at 260.449.7000 or go to our website, www.waynetownship.org.

We are really excited to be hosting the Family Fun Day, and we look forward to the community’s help throwing a fun party on October 12 and giving a vote of encouragement to the children of Wayne Township.