The Milford City Council recognized the accomplishments of a few outstanding residents and a couple of dedicated junior high students at its regular meeting March 6.
Receiving the recognition were the seventh and eight grade students who participated in the county’s Make A Difference Day and the churches involved in organizing the Milford Area Black History Project held in February.
In attendance to accept the recognition from Milford mayor Kim McBeath were Milford High School student Brittany Bayne and Milford Junior High student Jess Stankeveh.
The Make A Difference Day, which took place last year, is an annual clean-up day. The seventh and eight graders from the Milford Junior and High Schools participated in the clean-up day and are being rewarded with a special service award at a banquet in Columbus this week.
Middle School science teacher Rachelle Rapp said that the Make A Difference Day was designed as part of a national push to get people involved in volunteerism.
“Clermont 20/20 does a Clean And Green event every year, and the city of Milford has picked up on that,” she said. “About seven years ago, we started getting groups together on the Saturday when they do their make a difference day in October.”
Last year, more than 100 students volunteered and worked on cleaning up River’s Edge along the East Fork area of the Little Miami River.
In her remarks at the council meeting, Mayor McBeath congratulated the students and commended their efforts on “their spirit, their willing to volunteer, and on their encouragement of others to do the same.”
The Milford Area Black Heritage Project also received special mention for educating the community and promoting awareness of the accomplishments and achievements of black Americans over the years, especially local residents who can trace their roots back to settlers in the early 1800’s.
Many local churches participated in various ways to ensure the success of The Milford Black Heritage Project, including Milford Ebenezer Baptist Church, Buckwheat Church of God, Calvary Methodist, Miami Baptist, the First Church of God, St. Paul AME, Milford First Methodist, and the Mt. Olive Church in Camp Dennison.