Be The One To Give Back
To Your Community
Heather Elster
Executive Director, Whitin Community Center 

The Whitin Community Center is more than just a fitness center, we are a philanthropic organization that teaches and encourages the youth in our programs the importance of giving back to the community. Here are just a few of the student leadership projects we've worked on this year.
The Yellow Tulip Project
This project was 100% youth led, where the Rockdale Youth Center (RYC) & Blackstone Valley Children's Place (BVCP) students each chose the location of their Hope Garden, created their own signs, and shared stories about mental illness with each other. Each Hope Garden, one located at the RYC, one located at the Main Entrance of the Whitin Community Center (WCC), and one at the Douglas Primary School, contains 500 yellow tulip bulbs to symbolize hope and happiness and to bring a beautiful splash of color to the community.

"This project meant a lot to me because, my whole family struggles with mental illness including myself. It made me smile knowing that people are finally recognizing that mental illnesses aren't just being hyper or not trying." - Piper S., 6th grade RYC Student

The Whitin Community Center partnered with ValleyCAST and Open Sky Community Services for these projects.
Veteran Giving Tree
Every year the RYC students invite the local Veterans for coffee and cookies for the holidays at the Rockdale Youth Center. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, this annual community service event could not happen in person this year. However, the students still wanted to honor and support our local veterans with gifts.

The Veteran Giving Tree was erected at the WCC in the lobby and decorated with patriotic ornaments and adorned with a variety of giving tags for everyday necessities. We are thankful for the generosity of our community for donating gift cards to this great cause!

The RYC students created their very own holiday cards to pair with each donated gift card, and presented them to the Veteran's Association of Northbridge in December, right before the holiday!
Blackstone Valley Emergency Shelter - Survival Kits For The Homeless
In partnership with the Blackstone Valley Emergency Shelter, the Rockdale Youth Center Girls On The Run Team chose to support the homeless, as part of their community impact project.

The project is 100% youth led, where the students reached out to leaders in the community for donations. They also worked with the WCC Marketing Department to create a flyer and spread the word about the importance of this project. Donation centers were placed in the WCC Lobby and the RYC for donations to be collected.

As a result, 25-30 survival kits that include, blankets, hats, gloves, snacks, masks, gift cards, first aid & dental hygiene kits, thermal heat blankets and so much more were given to the BV Emergency Shelter to share with the homeless people in our community.
RYC Holiday Music Video
Every year the Rockdale Youth Center students visit the residents at Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center for the holiday to sing holiday selections with the residents. This year with the pandemic they unfortunately were not able to meet in person. The students were determined to still spread holiday cheer, and decided to create a music video instead!

The students choreographed their own dances to classic holiday songs which included their teachers, edited and created the video, and sang two of their favorite songs!

The video was burned on CDs, and distributed with holiday cards to Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center just in time for the holidays. In addition, this year we were also able to share this good cheer with the Northbridge Fire & Police Departments and St. Camillus Health Center.

Please click the photo or link below to view!
If you have the capacity, please consider making a gift to the Whitin Community Center, so we can continue to improve and strengthen the well-bring of our community for all ages and backgrounds in the Blackstone Valley.


Whitin Community Center
60 Main St. Whitinsville, MA 01588
508.234.8184
www.WhitinCommunityCenter.com