As part of their annual community service project, members of The Center for Rural Development’s Rogers Scholar Ambassadors purchased Christmas gifts for Pulaski County children in need through the Angel Tree project sponsored by the Somerset Walmart and The Center. Helping get the gifts ready for distribution at the official Angel Tree drop-off site in [...]

After graduating from the second and final week of The Center for Rural Development’s 2009 Rogers Scholars summer youth program, the region’s future business leaders and entrepreneurs have challenged to go out and make their home communities in Southern and Eastern Kentucky better places to live. The final 30 of the 60 rising high school [...]

At the age of 8, J.P. Blevins had a dream that he would someday play basketball on the court of historic Rupp Arena for the University of Kentucky. Blevins accomplished that dream, playing four years of basketball as a Wildcat. This week, he told participants at The Center for Rural Development’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (ELI) [...]

A business concept drafted by five graduates of The Center for Rural Development’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (ELI) has earned each of the students an offer of a Presidential Scholarship from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in Richmond. The first-place winners of ELI’s 2009 Business Concept Competition are Austin Adams, Rachel Colyer, and Leanze Jones of Pulaski [...]

This year’s graduates of The Center for Rural Development’s Rogers Explorers summer youth program used their science and math skills to explore the mysteries of space and get hands-on experience turning up clues as crime scene investigators. A total of 60 rising ninth-grade students from across Southern and Eastern Kentucky honed their science and math [...]

MONTICELLO, Ky. — Barbourville resident J.M. Hall was the lucky winner of a houseboat holiday on Lake Cumberland that was the grand prize in a regional fundraising campaign benefiting The Center for Rural Development’s three summer youth programs. Hall’s winning ticket was drawn at random in a dockside ceremony held Monday, June 1, at Conley [...]

They come from communities scattered across Southern and Eastern Kentucky. Some have dreams of opening their own business or becoming entrepreneurs. Others are interested in strengthening their leadership skills. Regardless of those personal goals, all share a common bond to do his or her personal best to improve their lives and the lives of those [...]

Rogers Scholars Jordan Meece, Stacie Lawless and Joanie Alexander have been selected by their team members in the second graduating class to represent the youth leadership program as Ambassadors. The three Scholars were chosen by their peers to serve as Rogers Scholars Ambassadors, a program started three years ago for graduating Scholars. Each graduating class [...]

Rogers Scholars Ambassadors celebrated the holiday season by giving back to the community collecting canned food items and new or gently used coats for families in need. Ambassadors wrapped up the “Spirit of Giving” campaign a few days before Christmas with a live radio remote, broadcast on K93 Country WSEK, from the lobby of The [...]

Rogers Scholars Ambassadors and members of The Center for Rural Development staff donated a selection of new and gently used stuffed animals to the Brooklyn Bear project in memory of 10-year-old Brooklyn Smith. Brooklyn loved teddy bears and was called “Brooklyn Bear” by her family and friends. In honor of Brooklyn’s “sweet and loving spirit,” [...]