Students in John Thorpe's Welding Fabrication program at Central Technology Center recently designed, built and donated a commercial-grade smoker-cooker to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America to assist in an annual fund raiser for the charitable organization in Edmond .

Wayne Daves, American Welding Supply in Cushing, donated all of the materials needed to fabricate the cooker and the students did the design and construction as a class project. Retail value of the cooker, according to Thorpe, would be in the range of $800 or more.

Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America stages an annual auction in Edmond each year to raise funds to support its Oklahoma program of successfully mentoring at-risk youth. The BB-BSA mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported one-to-one relationships. The organization serves over 200,000 children, ages 6 through 18 in 5,000 communities across the nation. This is the second consecutive year that Thorpe's classes have adopted the BB-BSA group as a community assistance project.