For many years, Civitan clubs in the Albuquerque area have played a part in helping young people from The Ranches become successful.
This year, Civitan International has selected the Albuquerque Women’s Civitan Club to receive an
award for “Project of the Year.” This award recognizes the club having rendered outstanding service to the community through a single service project. The award is to be presented at the International Civitan Convention in Norfolk, Virginia in July.
The award comes for two activities provided for The Ranches:
1. Career fairs for the residents, introducing them to community business people who are available share information about the positions they hold, including the requirements of their positions, the education needed to obtain a position in the field, what is expected of a person holding the position, and a range of salaries a person in their field might expect. The AWCC’s commitment to assisting young people in these fair has made a profound difference in the lives of these adolescents. They have expressed appreciation for learning about employment opportunities they never knew existed. One AWCC member was so impressed by the demeanor, enthusiasm and curiosity of the young people, she made a significant donation to AWCC to be transferred to the Boys and Girls
Ranches for the benefit of the residents.
2. Sponsoring a Christmas party at Mountain Vista Ranch, a division of the Ranches. This program consists of seven
apartments for single mothers and their children. The Ranches provides the Club with names, ages and gift wishes for each mother and her child or children and members draw names and provide gifts for both the mother and the children. The Club and the residents decorate the common room for the holidays and then have lunch. Most years the Club has provided the lunch but, last year the residents chose to provide our members in attendance with lunch. They had made cookies, dips, salads and provided pizza and all the members in attendance were not only surprised but very touched by this gesture.
The Ranches is grateful for this type of support and encouragement for the residents.
