By Mary O’KEEFE

The Kiwanis Club of La Crescenta invited several local organization leaders to their monthly dinner meeting on Thursday, Oct. 25 and presented them with checks of financial support.

These are organizations that support our local kids, said Kiwanis member Lynn McGinnis.

The recipients included the Rosemont Middle School Builder’s Club whose members volunteer for many of the Kiwanis events. The funds donated will support the Builder’s Club including the purchase of the organization’s shirts, said Rosemont teacher and club mentor Jamie Arrow.

Kiwanis continued its Rosemont support by recognizing the school’s sports program.

“Cynthia [Livingston] started this program because she wanted to bring afterschool sports to the school,” McGinnis said. Rosemont now has a variety of sport programs including cheerleading, soccer, track and basketball, said Rosemont Assistant Principal Ann Amrhein.

Camp Firework is another program the Kiwanis supported. Camp Firework began last year and is organized by the youth at Crescenta Valley High School. It is a leadership camp that is designed to give kids confidence through self esteem building exercises.

Rosemont PWR is a new program at the middle school. Members of the club are training to run the Los Angeles Marathon in March. Teacher and mentor Terry Parker started the club. In the past, the school was part of Student Run LA (SRLA) but that program was no longer available to anyone outside of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“SRLA used to pay for two pair of shoes and the entry fees to all the races leading up to the marathon,” Parker said. Now the students have to cover the costs of participating in the program. Parker is reaching out to organizations to help supplement the costs.

Kiwanis also supported the Fire House youth center that began two years ago. It is open on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. for high school students and on Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for middle school students.

A donation was also made to Prom Plus. The organization will be celebrating its 20th year in the next school year. It offers a place for Crescenta Valley High School seniors and their guests to go after prom from midnight to 5 a.m.

In total the Kiwanis donated $6,250 to the organizations. The club continues to raise funds and support local organizations.