Youth Dynamics banquet set for Saturday
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years AGO
File photo A “shadow play” was part of the program at the 2016 Youth Dynamics banquet. The 2017 banquet is Saturday.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | March 10, 2017 2:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Youth Dynamics youth outreach program will sponsor its annual fundraising banquet and silent auction from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, 900 E. Yonezawa Blvd.
Moses Lake Youth Dynamics has been in operation for 21 years; there are multiple locations statewide, but Moses Lake was the first, said area director Todd Welch in an earlier interview.
Youth Dynamics’ Christian-based message is designed to help kids in need of some extra help finding their way, Welch said. The center is open to youths from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday and 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The program focuses on high school and middle school students, Welch said, with staff members spending time at Moses Lake High School and the district’s middle schools.
The Youth Dynamics project grew out of what is still one of its basic missions, outdoor adventure for high school students in a Christian setting. The group focuses on “adventure-based stuff,” taking kids hiking, rafting, and to group’s camp, Stonewater Ranch near Leavenworth.
Teens learn to exceed their own expectations, Welch said, but once they get back home that lesson can get lost. The local programs are a way to reinforce it, he said. The Monday-Wednesday program includes basketball, a climbing wall and some academic tutoring.
The program also includes a biking and hiking ministry, and the group received a donation from Confluence Health to help fund it for summer 2017, Welch said.
The banquet replaced the group’s traditional art auction last year, an effort by the YD board to shake things up.
The menu includes prime rib, salad and bread, catered by Top Gun Catering, the third year the company has catered the meal. “They’re awesome,” Welch said. Dessert will be a “Dessert Dash,” with individual cakes and pies auctioned to participants.
The money raised will be used to pay for scholarships to the group’s summer camp, and for operation of the Moses Lake facility. “All of us Youth Dynamics staff have to raise our own support,” Welch said.
Tickets are $50 per person or $400 per table. Tickets will be available at the door, but “we’re getting full,” he said.
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