south_whidbey_youth_connection

South Whidbey Youth Connection and Community Challenge

Sep 202010

September 20, 2010 Posted by Kathy McLaughlin 2 Responses »

The South Whidbey Youth Connection is a part of the HELP Network of South Whidbey Island and an integral part of the community. We’ve written about the HELP Network in the past and there are a still a few more organizations that need to be highlighted.

You can click on the above logo to read all the posts associated with the HELP Network.

Providing a gathering place for our youth is extremely important and we do it well on South Whidbey Island. Having the South Whidbey Commons and the Youth Connection is a blessing.

The South Whidbey Youth Connection is all about having fun and helping our children grow. It is an organization that fosters healthy youth development by offering a drug and violence free opportunities for area teens in a safe and nurturing environment.

The South Whidbey Youth Connection was created in 1989 by a coalition of caring Islanders representing public schools, congregations and a circle of community leaders. What sprouted as a small after-school center has grown into The Hub, a drop-in center for middle and high school students, where healthy interaction, fun and food are shared five days a week.

The Hub re-opened on the first day of school, September 7th, in their usual location at the Langley United Methodist Church.

Local philanthropist Nancy Nordoff is issuing a challenge to the community. Nancy will match up to $5,000 in donations received through the middle of October that will directly support The Hub’s operations. If you usually wait until the holidays to make your annual donation, please consider doing it now so Nancy can match it. You can click here to find out how you can support the Youth Connection.

The South Whidbey Youth Connection provides a number of activities for the young people of our community.

Swimming with friends.

Spending time with our larger four-legged friends:)

Surfs up!

You should also know that the D.V. and Ida McEachern Charitable Trust have been lending a big helping hand at the Hub. After more than two decades of use, many of their games and appliances were wearing out and needed to be replaced. Thanks to their support they are getting new dishwashers and toasters for the kitchen, new foosball, air hockey and ping pong tables, new instruments for music lessons and jam sessions, and several new Wii and Xbox games.

Need some help around your home or business?

The Teen Employment Experience Network continues to grow. This summer was a big success! During the past 2½ months (May 15 to July 31) they’ve employed 13 youth in South Whidbey for a total of 170 hours. 15 employers have utilized their services; the majority being “at home‟ employment, such as mowing lawns, weeding, moving furniture and the like.

Quite a bit going on at the South Whidbey Youth Connection!

Good Cheer!

The HELP Network – South Whidbey Island

Feb 102010

February 10, 2010 Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

We have a HELP Network on South Whidbey Island that is truly amazing. Perhaps it’s time that we do our part in getting the word out! I plan on writing a post about each of these organizations over the next few months. People helping people and in so many ways.

Gary Zukov wrote in his book, The Seat of the Soul, that “millions of individuals are awakening sometimes to their surprise to a hunger for harmony, cooperation, sharing, and reverence for Life. Their challenge is to create those things in a world of discord, competition, hoarding, and exploitation, a world in which life is a cheap commodity.”

I’m currently reading a book called “Blessed Unrest” which is a story about how the largest movement in the World came into being and why no one saw it coming. The author is Paul Hawken and the book was released in 2007.

In Hawken’s book he identifies one to two million organizations working toward ecological sustainability and social justice. This social movement is decentralized and has no specific leaders; hence no media following. “This is the largest social movement in all of human history. No one knows it’s scope, and how it functions is more mysterious than what meets the eye.”

“What does meet the eye is compelling: coherent, organic, self-organized congregations involving tens of millions of people dedicated to change. What I see are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in an attempt to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty in this world.”

“Collectively, it expresses the need of the majority of people on earth to sustain the environment, wage peace, democratize decision making and policy, reinvent public governance piece by piece from the bottom up, and improve the lives of women, children and the poor. Throughout history, armies, corporations, religious rulers, and political zealots have overpowered the majority world, which in our upside down world we consider to be minorities.”