Donaldsonville – AMIkids Donaldsonville presented student-made wreaths and played bingo with residents of Senior Centers and Nursing Homes in Donaldsonville, Napoleonville and Lutcher. AMIkids “Service from the Heart for Seniors” week was full of exciting and enriching experiences for youth, staff, communities and the organization.

AMIkids Donaldsonville is one of 55 programs in seven states affiliated with AMIkids, headquartered in Tampa, Fa. Founded in 1969, MIkids, Inc., is a nationally-recognized not-for-profit that offers a promising future to more than nine-thousand troubled youth each year through positive and

motivating programs that inspire learning, leadership and personal growth.

AMIkids is coordinating the efforts of its programs for the third bi-annual “Service from the Heart” National Service Week, focusing on service to the elderly during the holiday season.

Throughout the week, three thousand kids across the country were partnered with their local communities to celebrate the service that

is so important to the organization year-round. “Helping a senior

from my neighborhood was a

pleasure” said Kraylon Brown, certified science teacher, “My class and I thoroughly enjoyed making the wreath and presenting it to the facility. The students pointed out that our blue and silver AMIkids wreath matched their blue and silver Christmas tree.”

The positive impact of service on the elderly and AMIkids’ students over the past year, led to a focus on seniors for this year’s holiday project, president and CEO O.B. Stander said.

“Community service is one way we instill citizenship into our students – they experience firsthand the importance and pride in giving back to ones community.”

Performing acts of service throughout their stay in AMIkids’ programs is what ties the kids to their local communities. When they leave AMIkids, students have a renewed sense of ownership in the community; they come to understand they are a part of something bigger than themselves.

In turn, it gives local citizens a chance to really get to know the kids and see the change first hand. It makes continued success more likely and is a large part of what makes the programs work, as evidenced by AMIkids’ national 73 percent average success rate.

For over 40, AMIkids has partnered with local communities to help more than 105,000 misguided youth develop into responsible and productive citizens. AMIkids programs focus on family values, education, character building and experiential learning. For more information on AMIkids, please visit www.amikids.org.

For more information please contact, Tamiko Francis Garrison, executive director, 225-474-8820, dville-ed@amikids.org.