During the month of December, the Taylor, Michigan campus of Ross Medical Education Center decided to end the year on a high note and put the needs of other first. The campus in its entirety decided to help support the Penrickton Center for Blind Children which is located directly down the street from the campus. The Penrickton Center for Blind Children is a private non-profit agency. They provide both residential and day care as well as consultation and evaluation services for blind, multi-disabled children between the ages of one and 12 years old.
The organization’s goal is to promote independence in daily living, and they work with both the children and their families. Their clients and families are provided support services, education, and advocacy. Relying entirely on private donations from individuals and organizations, Penrickton does not receive any state, federal, insurance or United Way funding of any kind. Finding out this information about their funding made the Taylor campus want to help out the Penrickton Center even more. Petra Miskelley, Assistant Campus Director of Admissions, created a beautiful wreath which was raffled off the day before their donations were delivered to Penrickton. She was able to collect $75.00 during the raffle which was used to purchase a Meijer gift card for the Center to use to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and any other essentials that they needed. Genevieve Edgerton, a student in the morning Medical Assistant class, was the lucky winner of the wreath.
The Taylor campus also received a list of donations that Penrickton needs on a year round basis which included baby wipes, wash clothes, hand soap, dish soap, paper plates, Ziploc sandwich bags, food storage containers, hair brushes, and children’s toothpaste. In response, the campus was able to collect and donate over 150 items on the wish list for the Penrickton Center for Blind Children.
On the big day, Campus Director Regina Newell, Career Development Representative Deonna Barber, Career Services Student Support Representative Samantha Mele, and Medical Assistant program students Nakesha Hill and Ellyn Bremer went to the Penrickton Center for Blind Children to present the generous donations to their facility on behalf of the entire campus. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Patricia Obrzut, the Assistant Director of Penrickton, who graciously accepted their donations and gave them a tour of the facility while explaining their “Active Learning” approach. They were even able to see some equipment that is specifically designed for blind, multi-disabled children. Samantha Mele stated, “the tour of the facility was absolutely heartwarming seeing how the local community is able to help the facility with donations to improve the lives of these children. The highlight of the tour was meeting Dureyea. Once we entered the playroom, he instantly started interacting with us by waving and had a huge smile on his face. I know that we will work with this facility even more in the future.”