A commitment to community service gets recognized and as a result, the community changed the lives of 12 youth club members.

Two Lawrence County youth clubs, Imani and Ujima, spent a week between Washington DC and Michigan, where the central region youth convention was held.

“Many of these kids have never traveled,” Carol Seward, youth supervisor, said. “They got to experience traveling, experience different places and learn how to handle different people.”

Their first experience came at the Washington D.C. subway system. The youths learned how to purchase their tickets and how to recognize the correct exits.

After learning the intricacies of the subway, the youths spent three and a half days touring monuments. They toured the National World War II Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. The most popular sites among the two groups were the White House, The Smithsonian Museum and the U.S. Holocaust, Seward said.

After their Washington experience was over, the youths moved on to the central regional youth convention in Michigan.

At the convention, the youths volunteered on committees such as the committee for talent, graduation and resolutions. A supervisor volunteer leads each committee, giving the youths assignments or giving them freedom to plan their own activities.

“At the conventions, they learn team work and learn to perform jobs in an organizational setting,” Seward said.

The Imani and Ujima youth clubs are a part of the Ohio Association of Youth Clubs. The organization teaches youths to work in and around the community.

The Imani and Ujima youth clubs have participated in the March of Dimes by collecting money and walking in the event. Once a year they participate in the Adopt a Soldier program, where they send cards and gifts to a soldier overseas. They have also held city clean up days.

The sponsors who made the trip possible are Staley’s Pharmacies, Ironton attorney John Wolfe, Scherer Mountain Insurance, Yvonne DeKay School of Dance, South Point Walmart, Pick ‘N Save, Sunset Nursing Home, Ironton High School, Save A Lot, Ashland Inc. the Russell Campus, Mrs. Shelia Hendricks, Advanced Auto, Annie Conwell, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Scott, Rubin Taylor Jr., William Payne, The Tribune and the Women’s Civic Club.