MEDINA – Two volunteers who have spent over a decade helping the city’s youth through outreach and after-school programs were recognized with a plaque and tree dedication at Ray Mellert Park, where many of these activities occur.

Michelle Powell and Carol Andregg, of the Let’s Make a Difference group and other local efforts, received the honor Nov. 16, with the plaque placed in front of a tree. Also with them were students from the after-school group ACE they run at Claggett Middle School, where they walked from to the park.

“We were asked could we dedicate a tree in Mellert for Carol and Michelle,” said Mayor Dennis Hanwell. “We are so thankful for all you have done.”

This dedication was a surprise to Powell, but Andregg said she was contacted beforehand to help get Powell there.

Let’s Make a Difference is a summer activity program primarily serving those living in the Union Square Apartments. The organization started in 2000 with Powell, then a single mother of two young children, organizing games and activities in nearby Ray Mellert Park.

When she was young, Powell, who grew up at Union Square, said she remembered a summer program in the park and wanted to continue something like that.

Back then, she recalled how the park had less amenities and was considered a drug area. Before founding the group, Powell said she was evicted from Union Square after a drug arrest, an event that was a wake-up call for her.

Powell said the program currently serves between 30 and 40 neighborhood kids.

“It’s one place to go and have fun without paying,” she said. “I’m blessed. I have the best community ever.”

Andregg, now a retired Garfield Elementary teacher, had started a homework program at the complex before that and continued to help with Let’s Make a Difference. She had Powell as a student and said she thought it was important for the students to see somebody from their neighborhood succeed and give back to others.

The ACE program, which consists of 16 at-risk middle school students, meets four days a week after school at Claggett, where they receive help with homework and ensure it gets done. One student at the event said the group has helped him recently make the merit roll.

Another project of the organization helps eighth-graders raise money for the Claggett Washington D.C. trip by paying them for mowing lawns on nearby Bronson Street, which is funded by a grant. Those students were not present for the event as Claggett students had left for the nation’s capital that morning.