Champlin Park Senior Receives Scholarship for Volunteer Work
On Fridays at Saint Therese at Oxbow Lake in Brooklyn Park, a group of seniors get to experience the workout known as cardio drumming.
It’s a 40-minute workout that requires constant movement and gets the heart rate up.
“It’s a lot of fun and it’s good exercise,” said Ginger Ayres, a resident of Saint Therese.
Leading the exercise on a recent Friday was Kayvon Raza, a Champlin Park senior who’s a familiar face.
For the last year and a half, Raza has taken time out of his schedule to volunteer at Saint Therese once a week.
“My parents have always preached the importance of giving, and how in order to receive in the first place, you must give, right?” Raza said. “So I thought about volunteering and I remembered Saint Therese.”
Kayvon Raza leads a cardio drumming class at St. Therese at Oxbow Lake in Brooklyn Park.
Aside from leading the cardio drumming classes, Raza also keeps the seniors entertained with magic tricks.
The residents here say they appreciate his presence.
“He has a bubbly kind of personality that connects with older people,” Ayres said. “Not everybody can comfortably do that, any more than older people can connect with younger people all the time.”
Yet connect he has.
And while Raza didn’t set out to volunteer for any sort of personal gain, he was rewarded for his selflessness.
Youth Volunteer Scholarship
Out of 26 applicants, Raza was one of two recipients of Saint Therese’s Youth Volunteer Scholarship.
The $2,000 scholarship is awarded annually to recognize youth volunteers who enrich the lives of seniors.
“Kayvon went over the top with his personal story that even made us laugh,” said Ayres, one of scholarship committee members. “He got called in to play cards with an older gentleman. No big deal. Until the older gentleman told him what kinds of games he played. Totally unknown to Kayvon. Made us laugh thinking about a teenager who had to go research how to play pinochle.”
Meanwhile, the seniors at Saint Therese aren’t the only ones whose lives have been enriched.
“It’s helped me,” Raza said. “I feel like coming to Saint Therese has raised my confidence. Being able to constantly talk and get more comfortable with the older generation.”
It’s an older generation that has high hopes for the future because of volunteers like Raza.
“It’s so easy to pick up a paper, to look at the news and get a very jaded, negative attitude of the youth of today,” Ayres said. “And I think all you need to do is take time and look at people like Kayvon. All of the applications for the scholarships all did something meaningful with elderly people. And I can’t but have hope going forward, the world will be a better place.”
In the fall, Raza will attend the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He says he still plans to return to Saint Therese to volunteer when he can.
Kayvon Raza (center) and parents with the Saint Therese scholarship certificate.
Related: ‘Never Too Late,’ Brooklyn Park Seniors Tie the Knot at St. Therese
Champlin Park High School
