Rockville Centre Youth Council gets a generous donation

The Rockville Centre Youth Council had a special guest at its April 11 meeting — Paul Arden, an educator for 54 years, who travelled from Brooklyn with a generous donation.

Arden has kept abreast of the growing activities of the council through his daughter Andrea Connolly, an adult member, and his grandson, Matt Connolly, a teen member. He has also read the council’s monthly meeting minutes and seen the schedule that includes social events and public service activities. He spoke with members at the meeting, telling them that he is impressed with their work and he described why he felt compelled to donate.

“The RVC Youth Council has accomplished a great deal in a short period of time,” Arden said before brainstorming with its members to define future projects and come up with ways that the adult-teen partnership can continue to reach out to teens. Arden said that he and his wife, Elaine, felt it was a joy to contribute and that he hoped the $1,000 could be used as “seed” money, and that the seed would continue to be sown.

In the last few months, teens and adults from the RVC Youth Council have partnered with two local businesses, Palace of Wong and Five Pennies Creamery, to host two late-night full capacity teen-only events filled with fun, food, ice cream and karaoke, providing alternative substance-abuse-free events for village teens. Members of the council have also volunteered at local food pantries such as the Vineyard Church, and fundraisers for worthy organizations, including the Rosa Lee Young Childhood Center Bingo Night.

The RVC Youth Council sponsors a safe ride program, so teens in potentially dangerous situations can have a free taxi ride home through their Student Lifeline Card, which is currently being distributed at teen functions in Rockville Centre, and at local businesses. The RVC Youth Council also co-sponsored the Drug and Alcohol information night for parents in March, and is currently working with a variety of local groups to host the second annual “Operation Medicine Cabinet” at the RVC Police Department on Saturday, April 30. The council’s next event is a coffee house/open mic at Revolution Yoga, 7 N. Village Ave. this Friday, April 29 at 9 pm.

The RVC Youth Council, an IRS-approved tax exempt organization, is registered as a charity in New York state, and has been conducting ongoing fundraising efforts to underwrite the programs it sponsors. Tax deductible donations may be made out to “RVC Youth Council” and sent to P.O. Box 193, Rockville Centre, NY 11571. New members are always welcome. Contact info@rvcyouthcouncil.org for additional information, or check them out on Facebook.