CLEARLAKE ? The Lake County Youth Center in Clearlake is recovering from a $16,183 ding it took when the Blue Heron Road Rally had a disappointing turnout last Saturday.
That hasn”t stopped the center”s plans to provide a safe place for the county”s youth to enjoy numerous programs, activities, a large indoor/outdoor recreation space and each other”s company, however.
“It”s going to take us a while to recover, but I”m optimistic that we”ll do it,” said Georgina Lehne, director of Lake County Community Action Agency (LCCAA), which is the parent organization for the youth center.
A recent comment from organizer Joyce Overton, president of the newly-formed youth center, indicated that the center might have to close after its Aug. 1 opening because over half of what the agency spent on the road rally wasn”t recovered. Out of an expected 500 riders, 89 attended the rally, many said because of heightened law enforcement presence throughout the event.
The funds were to go toward the youth center”s operation costs, said Lehne, explaining that money from other organizations in the community also helped fund LCCAA”s 19 social service programs.
“You can”t have programs without people,” said Lehne. The loss from Saturday”s road rally comes at a bad time for the youth center.
Program Director for Lake County Youth Center Joan Moore said as of Friday, 70 kids were enrolled at the youth center. Only one could afford the monthly $25 fee; the rest are very low-income and volunteer their time at the center in lieu of the fee.
Nonetheless, Lehne said the youth center plans not only to keep its doors open but to open them even further to all of the county”s youth. Plans include a transportation system that would ferry kids to and from the youth center, and possibly even centers in Middletown, Lakeport and Lucerne.
“Membership fees would cover some of these things,” said Lehne. What the center needs most is monetary donations, which can be mailed to LCCAA at P.O. Box 969, Clearlake 95422. For more information, call Lehne at 995-2920.
Other fundraising efforts include selling Blue Heron Road Rally T-shirts, another bike rally and poker run coming up on Sept. 2 and selling leftover raffle tickets from the Blue Heron Rally. The prize is a new Harley Davidson, 113 of which were sold. Lehne said the agency needs to sell 350 to break even.
Moore noted that for the budget- and time-crunched, the youth center works on a drop-in basis. Busy parents wishing to drop kids off for a day pay $5 per child, or if there are more than five children, “we can work something out,” according to Moore.
An added back-to-school bonus is that anyone who signs up also gets a free backpack full of school supplies, until the youth center”s supply runs out.
For more information about the youth center, call Moore at 994-7281.
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