Optimist Club of Paris, ON to build skateboard park

The Optimist Club of Paris, Ontario is celebrating its 6oth Anniversary this year. As one of their pet projects, they have decided to raise $360,000 for a skateboard park. According to members, it's a big amount of money to raise, but they can do it because they are Optimists.

They plan to partner with the County of Brant to secure the land and they are seeking a grant from the Trillium Foundation, but the major portion of the money will come from fund raising and in kind donations. Skateboards.com is sponsoring a skateboard event with money raised going to the park and young boarders have been raising money by taking the message to other local events.

It is a community effort driven by the "old time" Optimists. Now that's one way to stay young. Read the full article here.

Optimist Club of Mandeville, Jamaica reaches out with love

Some Optimist Clubs choose to perform really big projects and they garner newspaper articles and praise for the large contributions. I am always so excited when I see a small, meaningful project make headlines and that is the feeling I have about this project from the Optimist Club of Mandeville, Jamaica.

Members of the Optimist Club visited the Hanbury Home and provided a day of entertainment and caring. Hanbury Home is made up of 80 orphaned young people. The children thrived from the interaction provided by the Optimists which including reading stories, talking one-on-one with them and providing hugs. The House Mother said the visit provided positive relations for the children, but that the adults also helped her complete her tasks.

We often forget how lending our hands and hearts in such a simple way can make a difference in the lives of so many. Thank you to the Optimist of Mandeville. Keep reaching out to others.

Fishing Derby hosted by Optimist Club of Bixby, OK

As we head into summer, what could be a better activity than fishing? You guessed it! Teaching kids to fish. That was part of the fun at the 34th Annual Optimist Fishing Derby hosted by the Optimist Club of Bixby, OK.

Bixby area personalities Dick Faurot of Channel 6 and Keith and Cody Hays of KWHB-46 were on hand to offer fishing advice and film footage that will be aired on an upcoming edition of The Future of Fishing.

According to the Optimists, 78 children from ages 2 to 15 participated in the derby. The largest fish was a black bass caught by young Easton Abel. It weighed in at 1 pound, 13 ounces. All participants received T-shirts and all the hot dogs they could eat from the Optimist Club. Zebco provided prizes for all winning anglers.

What great summer fun! See the article online at the Bixby Bulletin. Or on Scribd: Bixby Fishing Derby. Photo courtesy of Anthony Jumper.

Junior Optimist Club pays it forward in Farmington Hills, MI

“A small group of people coming together can make a big difference,” said Abhinav Reddy , a kindergarten student at the Highmeadow Elementary School in Farmington Hills, MI.

Idealistic thoughts for such a little person? Maybe so, but that is what being a part of a Junior Optimist Club is all about. The Highmeadow Elementary School recently added the Junior Optimist Club program to their list of extracurricular activities and just last week, the group completed their first community service project, a walkathon to benefit another youth serving organization: the Farmington Area Goodfellows.

Junior Optimist Clubs are student driven. With minor support from the sponsoring adult Optimist Club, the students develop, plan and execute their own projects. There are 18 students in the Highmeadow Elementary School Junior Optimist Club. For this program they recruited students from neighboring schools and enlisted parents as chaperones for the five mile hike. The Optimist Club of Farmington-Farmington Hills manned the snack stations around the course. It was a great activity, raising more than $2,000 in a pay-it-forward fashion, from one group to the next so that all can do more for others.

“I wanted to do something good. I wanted to make a difference,” said Nadia Morman-Williams, another kindergarten student. Well you did Nadia; you and your classmates all did so good! Thank you!

Read more in hometownlife.com or read the story here.

Recognizing kids is what we do

Please enjoy a short break from Optimist Club projects as we note another awesome opportunity for kids.

Kudos to Google! With their immeasurable reach, they have once again offered an art contest for children in grades K-12 in the US. The program is called Doodle 4 Google. Children are asked to submit their drawings of the famous Google logo incorporating the theme of the year. This year's theme was "What I wish for the World." The national winner for 2009 was Christin Engelberth, Bernard A. Harris Jr High School, San Antonio, TX. Take a look at all US state finalists in the Doodle 4 Google competition. Enjoy!