The principle has taken on a life of its own and spread into the Madisonville community in the form of a partnership between the bank and the community.

Today, employees are launching a mission to stock non-perishables at the Madisonville Education and Assistance Center and the FreeStore/FoodBank.

Fifth Third's Central Operations division is hosting the food drive along with an art contest.

Through Friday, employees and on-site vendors, such as Derringer Food Services, Viox Facilities, Allied Security and Core Security will make contributions to the food drive.

At 4 p.m. Friday, the main course will take place at the Fifth Third Bank Madisonville Operations Center, 5050 Kingsley Drive. Each department will sculpt the non-perishables into works of art, but the food must remain in containers and packages.

The sculptures will be judged, and a winner will be selected.

Off to South Africa

Two local teens will join 18 other African-American and Hispanic high school students from across the country for the month-long Summer Fellowship Program, part of the International Youth Leadership Institute in South Africa. They will leave June 30.

They are Brandon Clark, a junior at Withrow Traditional High School, and Chazeray Ewing, a junior at Dater High School.

Brandon and Chazeray competed in the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative Educational Talent Search program by writing essays.

Both students were chosen for the program by KnowledgeWorks Foundation. The students will explore the cultures of Africa and learn about the history of African civilization.

A send-off ceremony honoring the families and students was held Monday at the PNC Bank Conference Facility downtown. Retired federal appellate Judge Nathaniel Jones spoke to the students and families.

Jones, chairman of the board of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, visited Johannesburg, South Africa, many times in the 1980s, helping to set up the government there.

"This will provide an insight for me into a foreign country," Chazeray said. In her essay, she wrote about incidents she had seen while living in Cincinnati's Fay Apartments.

"I had witnessed an argument and shots fired right outside my door,"' she said. "Things are a little better since we moved to Price Hill."

Brandon, of Madisonville, wrote about racial profiling.

"I had just seen on Dateline a piece on racial profiling. But I was able to use what I have seen first-hand in Madisonville. It might not be as bad as it is in Over-the-Rhine and the West End, but I see a lot of African-Americans being stopped."

Brandon is the son of Anthony and Kiena Clark. Chazeray is the daughter of Shadora Ewing and Lavon Harris.

POSITIVELY KIDS: New lawyer

Michael Wernke has graduated from Harvard Law School and will practice in New York City. He had earned undergraduate degrees, summa cum laude, in mathematics and political science from Ohio State University.

The Sycamore High School graduate is the son of Barbara and Richard Wernke of Liberty Township.

Eagle Scout

Aaron Dourson, of Troop 133 sponsored by Concordia Lutheran Church in Clifton, has achieved the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America: the Eagle Scout award. For his community service project, he established a science garden at Concordia School.

The recent graduate of Walnut Hills High School will attend the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building in Port Townsend, Wash. for one year and then study environmental science at Morehead (Ky.) State University. Aaron is the son of Martha and Michael Dourson of Northside.

Learning leadership

Jonathan Lowe, of West Chester Township, was selected to attend LeadAmerica's 2004 Congressional Student Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. Through briefings and discussions with leaders in their field of study, students have an opportunity to experience leadership in action and learn about the complexities of decision making in a chosen field.

Jonathan, a ninth-grader at Cincinnati Christian School, will participate in the Defense & Intelligence program.

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