First Change:

There is no membership requirement or membership fee in order for a child between the ages of 8 - 18 and/or 3rd to 12th grade to participate in our Merit Point System. The Merit Point System allows a child to earn points when they attend our free events (monthly meetings, community service, and fundraising events). These points then can be "cashed in" in place of the cost to attend a social event.

For example: DKTC Bowling Event (as social event) costs $10.00 or 20 points to attend it. If a child has a total of 80 points, he or she can use 20 of those points to attend the Bowling event. The money that the kids raise during their fundraising events is utilized to cover the "cash in" amount for those who choose to use their points to attend a social event. A child may also choose to save up all their points to reduce their admission cost to attend a two-day annual summer amusement trip.

For a child who already paid for their 2007-2008 membership will receive points to compensate for the mid-year change. These points will be added on January 1, 2008 and can be used thereafter.

Second Change:

DKTC begins to implement a new project to give a child the opportunity to participate in a Community Service and earn merit points through their school during the regular monthly visit by the DKTC staff and/or the monthly DKTC meetings. We do recognize that for some children and their families, their ability to attend our weekend DKTC events may be a challenge due to other weekend commitments. Therefore, a child is able to earn points, potentially 30 points, each month through their school.

The goal of our Community Service project is to help a child learn and experience the value of helping others in need. We will be educating the children about the organization that we give support to which will help them become more aware of the services in their community. For instance, our first Community Service for the month of January will be to help support the Ohio Association of the Second Harvest Food Bank.; the second community service for the month of February will be to help support the Salvation Army. The other places will be Children's Hospital; Columbus Colony Elderly Care; the Franklin County Humane Society.

Each month we will be distributing a Community Service project for a specific month a month before and collecting it the following month. For example: The information about the Community Service project for the month of January will be mailed or distributed during school visits during the month of December and collection of items will take place during the month of February. Each child will receive a receipt of points earned for that month upon collection of it.

If you have any questions or concerns about the Community Service project, please contact us at 614-841-1991 Voice/TTY/VP or email DKTC95@dsc.org.