RTC student chosen for Transforming Lives award | News and Notes

This week, Rainier Scholar student gets a Kindle and 90 families get early Christmas presents.

RTC student chosen for Transforming Lives award

The Washington State Association of College Trustees (ACT) has selected a Renton Technical College (RTC) student as one of five winners of the Transforming Lives award, a program that recognizes students whose lives have been improved by their experiences at a Washington community or technical college.

Mohamed Abdullahi, a computer science student at RTC, will receive a $500 scholarship from ACT and will be honored at the ACT Transforming Lives dinner in Olympia on Jan. 23. He will also receive a $250 scholarship from the RTC Board of Trustees.

The ACT selection committee was moved by Abdullahi’s childhood as a refugee from Somalia, and by his academic and service work at RTC.

Adbullahi pursued his studies while working evenings as a security guard, and also as a tutor and technician in RTC’s student-run service that fixes computers for free, a program he also helped to organize. He is a student leader in the RTC Associated Student Government and a member of the Phi Theta Kappa academic honors society.

Rainier Scholars student receives Amazon Kindle

Brandon Moreno-Hernandez, 12-year-old Rainier Scholars student from Renton, received a holiday surprise at the Rainier Scholars annual holiday potluck – his very own Amazon Kindle.

Moreno-Hernandez’s Kindle was part of a larger $10,000 donation Amazon made to Rainier Scholars, an organization which empowers children of color with educational opportunities that will help them graduate and become the leaders of the future. The donation included products selected from Rainier Scholars’ Amazon Wish List – more than 250 books, as well as Kindles and other items.

Renton Community Foundation gears up for the class of League of Extraordinary Givers

Renton Community Foundation will once again honor the people in our community who go above and beyond the call of duty to help those in need, inspire through the arts, protect the environment, rescue pets and generally make our community a better place to live. The foundation will induct the next class of awardees into the League of Extraordinary Givers at the third annual ‘CELEBRATE! The Love of Community’ event on Feb. 16 at the Renton Pavilion.

Apart from honoring community members, the foundation will also hand out close to $300,000 in community grants that night.

Guests will be given the opportunity to vote on how to split up $10,000 to award to five organizations in need of transportation money for their clients.

For information on the celebration, you can go to the Foundation’s website at www.rentonfoundation.org or call the Foundation at 425-282-5199.

90 families receives Christmas boxes of food and gifts

Santa’s elves were busy packing Christmas boxes of food and gifts for 90 needy families at St. Anthony Catholic Parish.

Renton Knights of Columbus provided 24 new coats for children and help packed food boxes along with St. Vincent de Paul and other parish volunteers.

Merrill Gardens wins Family Business of the Year award

Senior housing operator Merrill Gardens was named the 2016 Gold Award winner at the Family Business Awards presented by Seattle Business magazine.