Ritenour believes in service
(This is the seventh in an eight-part series)Jessica Ritenour is from the small Fayette County town of Indian Head, but her volunteer activities spread her interests in many different directions. In her sixth semester at the Laurel Business Institute, Ritenour’s volunteer efforts have taken her to Greensburg, where she volunteered to help a small child who was ill by participating in “Leah’s Adventure,” sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.
The daughter of Ken and Barb Ritenour, she has been involved in a number of activities in the Connellsville area, including and the Car and Bike Show at North Fayette Vo-Tech School and PennDOT’s Adopt a Highway Cleanup program on Crawford Avenue.
In Uniontown, she has participated in “Feed the Need,” sponsored by the Faith Assembly of God Church, and the food drive sponsored by the Fayette County Community Action Food Bank. She has also volunteered for the “Benefit Dinner” in Indian Head.
Mary Jo Barnhart, the student services coordinator and instructor at Laurel Business Institute, who nominated Ritenour said, “She has made a difference in her school and her community. She attends school full time, works two jobs and still gives 100 percent to community service.”
“Jessica Ritenour has been an influential member of our Phi Beta Lamba. Jessica has been instrumental in organizing the members to participate in many community service projects,’ said Jo Anna Meese, advisor for Phi Beta Lambda. “It has been an honor to have Jessica as a member of Phi Beta Lambda.’
For her efforts, she has been selected to receive a Fayette County Community Service All-Star Award. She is among eight local students being honored by putting forth an extra effort to make a difference in their communities. The students come from Uniontown, Laurel Highlands, Brownsville, Connellsville, Albert Gallatin and Geibel high schools along with Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus and Laurel Business Institute.
The students were nominated by the schools on the basis of their grade-point average and community services. Frazier High School and the West Virginia Career Institute didn’t nominate a student for the award.
The students will receive a $500 check to help them with their college costs. A captain will be selected from among the eight students to receive an extra $100. The captain will be selected by the event organizing committee, which includes Alyssa Trynock, Jes Hutson, Leda Gismondi, John Evans and Harry Brownfield.
The students will be honored at a breakfast at the Sun Porch restaurant on Wednesday. Trynock will be the master of ceremonies.
At Laurel Business Institute, Ritenour is secretary of the Phi Beta Lambda and competed in events at the organization’s Leadership Conference in Lancaster last month.
An organ donor, Ritenour said she’s trying to help the community in any way she can.
“The reason that I am involved in community service is because I take pride in my community,’ said Ritenour. “Fayette County may not be very wealthy, but this is where I was born and raised. I want to make this place a better place for the people now living here and the new ones on the way.
“I do not look at community service as an obligation. I look at it as lending my time to make a person’s life or a family’s life as good as mine. I want to share my wealth of happiness with others and this is a way I can do that. Giving up my free time to help my community in need makes me feel like a better person at the end of the day.
“I am Jessica Ritenour, one person, one step at a time. I will make a difference in my community. This place will be a great place for children to live and be a kid,’ she added.