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The following is a press release from Radford University:

RADFORD – Radford University will host a luncheon Wednesday, July 29, from noon to 2 p.m., in Muse Banquet Hall as a thank-you celebration for the Scottish Rite Freemasonry and the Scottish Rite Foundation for their support of the annual RU RiteCare Summer Language Clinic and student scholarships.

The theme is “Reading Smiles” which captures the three elements of this year’s program – books, friendship and humor. This year’s book list includes three humorous titles – The Napping House, Little Pea, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The children will engage in play and social activities as they explore these books together.

The 2009 RiteCare Clinic will include children from two to thirteen years diagnosed with autism and related language disorders. The clinical program is founded upon family-centered intervention as a means of enhancing the children’s language and literacy skills. Parents attend camp with their children, engaging in parent workshops and learning to participate in therapy sessions with their children so they can facilitate their language development long after camp ends.

The RU RiteCare Language and Research Clinic is a partnership among the RU Communication Sciences and Disorders Department, psychology and music therapy faculty members and students. Peer models and undergraduate volunteers will also participate in the event.

To learn more about assistance available to children with speech and language disorders, please contact Patricia Rossi at (540) 831-7734

When the Spring Semester ended most students relaxed and recovered from exams and hectic schedules at Radford University. There was one exception. A group of six Radford University students, one Virginia Tech student and two St. Jude’s Catholic Church members took a mission trip that changed their lives forever. The Catholic Campus Ministry sponsored trip traveled to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and made life long friends, worked to bring water to a school, and fell in love with the simple life. The mission trip to Haiti brought smiles, tears and understanding to what life is really about.
In the pictures we see Susan Danh (RU Senior) as she befriends a Haitian girl, David Clark (RU Junior) and Jamey Brittingham (RU Junior) as they pose with a soccer team in new uniforms we brought to donate, Susan and Mike (RU Sophomore) at the play ground, Theresa sitting with boys at the orphanage (who get up at 5 am to study in the courtyard every day of the school year) and Leah Edeline (RU Senior) as she plays Frisbee with a group of boys.

Submitted by Karen Melendez , Catholic Campus Ministry, Radford University

You can view the photos in the slideshow above or in this photo gallery.

Also of note: Four of the people who went on the mission trip -- two students, two adults -- will make a presentation about it this Thursday, May 28 at St. Jude's Catholic Church, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Do you have news or photos that involve people or events in the New River Valley? If so, you can share at newriver@roanoke.com

We can't all be pros like Matt Gentry, who shot this image (and others) of Virginia Tech's graduation for The Roanoke Times over the weekend. But we'd still like to see your photos, so email them to us at our email address. It doesn't have to be Virginia Tech photos. We'd love to see them from Radford University, New River Community College or even UVa. We'd like to run them online and in the Current. Thanks.