Press Release

Making a Difference

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” A group of students from Riverdale High School are living those words by raising funds to make a difference. Their organization, Bridges to India, is a student-led global services group which for the last four years has developed community service projects, raised the funds to implement them, and traveled to Kerala on the southwest coast of India to enhance the quality of life improvements chartered by Hope Charities, Inc.

Service Learning is a large part of the Riverdale curriculum. The group of eleven students have developed their own project outside of school and are working hard to make it happen. In an effort to decrease world poverty and temper extremism, today’s leaders are turning to women to make a difference. Empowering them economically enables them to become a solution where only problems existed before. To this end, the group of juniors and seniors are raising funds to expand the Vatsala Shenoy Women’s Vocational Center in Kerala, India. For three weeks in late November and early December, they will travel to India to expand the Vocational Center, bring donated books to the library, and teach English as a Second Language classes in Kerala. Additional funds they raise will help support the Hope Medical Clinic which provides free medical care to small villages in southern India.

This Saturday, September 26th, the students will be holding a fundraising car wash from 11-3 at Riverdale High School (9727 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland, OR 97219). Students are also raising funds by collecting cans, and are asking for donations of books to build the library that is part of the clinic. For more information, or to make a donation, you can visit their web site at www.bridgestoindia.org.