JULY 7, 2009
Beth Klingele We were greeted and prayed for by RUSS ROBERTS. Guests were Earl Hall, BERT REDWING’s daughter Lynn and Ken Johnson.
Next Week’s Program will be Birthday Parties for DELMAR PEARSON and GENE SHIELDS who are both in their 90’s.
PRESIDENT RON ZIRKLE gave a cup of coffee and congratulations to PAT ANDREOTTI, our Kiwanian of the Month for his hard work organizing our annual Camp Roganunda work day.
LORI CROW was our sergeant and DON DAVIDSON called Bingo won by MAC PORTER (?) and DR MIKE WILSON won the 50/50 drawing put pulled the wrong card. Too bad Dr. Mike! Our pot is up over $400.
President Ron updated the club on recent contributions voted on by the Board. The remaining $5000 or so of funds from Rock the Gap 2009 will be contributed to the Yakima Greenway Foundation for their Naches to Yakima trail expansion. In addition the board voted to match $1 for $1 up to $2000 the upcoming Campfire Thunder in the Woods Fundraiser with the contribution going directly towards Camp Roganunda.
TRESSA SHOCKLEY introduced our speaker Ricardo Torres who runs the Midnight Madness program held Friday Nights at the YWCA. This free program is geared towards teenagers and is held every Friday Night from 9:30pm to 12:00am. The Y opens it’s doors for swimming, indoor soccer, basketball, Wii, Dance Dance Revolution and other fun activities. At 11:30 the kids are fed pizza, nachos or other teen favorites and lots of pop and Gatorade. Each Midnight Madness starts with a motivational guest speaker, a pastor, policeman or woman and they’ve even had a pro football player. Torres says the kids many of which come from the rougher neighborhoods around the YMCA are very polite and well behaved. To ensure no trouble an off duty police officer is on site and all staff working the event must be 21 or older. Anyone attending must present student ID to get in. The young men and women are given the opportunity to help in charity projects and some earn Y memberships doing so. Asked if the event attracts gang members, Torres said no, not really if they’re attending Midnight Madness they’re not really a gang member, or don’t want to be. Mr. Torres knows what he’s talking about and has credibility with the kids, he grew up in east Yakima and knows the struggles and challenges some of the kids face. The program attracts around 60 kids each Friday night. In addition the Y hosts Saturday night Live which is geared more for the younger kids and attracts over 200 kids each Saturday.
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