Cecelia Carson

In 1987 Cecelia Carson was invited to join the New Kensington chapter of Rotary International; one of the first women to become a part of the organization. Nothing in even her wildest of dreams could prepared her for the adventure that she was going to embark on. Her voyages have taken her to places like Guatemala, Argentina and Nicaragua. These trips should be more than enough in themselves but Cecelia has managed to find something even more rewarding. What really has given her an unquenchable passion is her work through the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship Program and the Group Study Exchange Program. “It's so important to educate young people and give them an opportunity to study abroad, ” explained Cecelia. And both these programs give just that.

She is deeply involved in the New Kensington Rotary and is District Governor at the Pittsburgh District Level. The job that she has taken on is to seek out young people in the community and encourage them to apply to the projects that she is involved with. "Both of these programs afford young adults an opportunity of a lifetime." Cecelia explained that The Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship is an exciting opportunity for students in their junior or senior year of college to go study in a foreign country for one year. The scholarship is worth $25,000! Right now New Kensington has seven scholars alone with one studying is at St Andrews, Scotland and another at Oxford University in England.

Another program very close to her heart is the Group Study Exchange Program. In addition to being a recruiter of the program she is also a team leader. She finds young working professionals and they are asked to go with a team leader to foreign country to study their culture for thirty days. Cecelia took a group to Argentina where the young adults were exposed to the different culture and got to study their professions there.

Cecelia also worked on a project along with Penn State New Kensington. The school donated 23 computers and a mainframe and they shipped it to Guatemala City. Cecelia went along and helped a small group of women install it in a classroom in the DePaul Institute. “When we flipped the switch and they all came on it was a miracle," Cecelia laughed. After completing the computer installation she went on a side trip to Nicaragua to drop off five suitcases of medical supplies to a small hospital. What makes her journeys even more impressive is the fact that Cecelia and others going abroad laboring to improve the lives of others pay their own way on each of the trips. Every act of kindness is truly selfless. With all the traveling that she has done either assisting the less fortunate or just setting off on her own, she has visited 32 countries.

Education and providing opportunity to learn and experience new things has always been very important to Cecelia. Besides her involvement in the Rotary, this is evident in the relationship that she has held with her grandchildren. "I never buy them toys, that's what their parents are for." Instead she gives them gifts like skiing lessons, horseback riding lessons, and golfing lessons. It has been a way to enrich their lives as well as her own. She has three grandchildren Michael is 14, Jennifer is 13, and Andy is 11 years old. “My fourteen-year-old grandson can now go golfing with me on a regulation golf course.”

Cecelia also volunteers her services at the Salvation Army as well as at her church, St. Josephs in New Kensington. She volunteers on the hospitality committee, decoration committee and serving Thanksgiving dinners. "I help out with the little things when I'm needed."

Although she is kept very busy with all her commitments Cecelia wouldn't change a thing. She has found fulfillment in her life that only has been made possible by the sacrifices that she's made.

To watch the video, go to http://www.allekiskitoday.com/webcasts/1230