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Offering thanks a good life lesson

24 February 2010

Offering thanks a good life lesson
Dayton Daily News
By Debbie Juniewicz
February 24, 2010

There are parties, putt-putt and parades but the South YMCA Adventure Princesses focus on community service as well as camaraderie.

The Dayton Flyers weren’t the only ones in action on Saturday, Feb. 20, as the Kettering-Based Adventure Princesses collected nonperishable items like gum, nuts, tuna and antibacterial wipes for the Blue Star Mothers at the women’s basketball game. A Flyers game is an annual excursion, but this year the Adventure Princesses added a service component to their UD Arena trip.

“Going to a women’s basketball game is a great opportunity for the girls to see what they can do themselves someday,” said John Stephens, a father in the organization. “We wanted to do more, so we worked through UD, and asked them what they needed and here we are.”

Donations were accepted at the arena entrance as UD Army ROTC volunteers manned the table. Twenty boxes of much-needed items were collected at the game and will most likely be shipped to Afghanistan.

“The Miami Valley has been unbelievably generous over the years,” said Linda Mauro, president of the Blue Star Mothers of America Miami Valley Chapter. “We were worried, given this economy, that we’d see a decline in donations but that hasn’t been the case.”

Mauro knows, firsthand, how important these donations are as her son, Robert, a Marine Corps captain, will soon be deployed for a second time.

The Adventure Princesses traded in their rally towels for crayons at halftime as they wrote thank you cards to the United States military personnel who will receive the donations. Then it was back to the stands to cheer the home team on to victory.

The Adventure Princesses, formerly known as Indian Princesses, have been active at the South YMCA for more than five decades. Adventure Princesses is a father/daughter program that provides unique opportunities for girls from kindergarten through the fifth grade to spend time with their dads. The Kettering chapter currently has more than 200 girls and fathers from Centerville, Kettering and Bellbrook actively involved.

Centerville sisters Bailey and Gillian Hodges disagree about their favorite part of being Adventure Princesses as 7-year-old Bailey likes Camp Kern and 10-year-old Gillian favors the snacks. Bailey’s twin sister Meghan seemed to sum it up best for the whole group, “it’s fun.”