By MaryHelen Swanson

By next fall teenagers in the North Branch area and surrounding communities will have a place to call their own.

If they want to practice with their bands, or put on a concert for their peers, thatíll be the place to do it.

If they want to play video games. Theyíll have them too.

If they want to skateboard ñ indoors ñ it will be available.

If they want to just sit and talk or have a snack with other teens, the new youth center will be the place to go.

Youth center is for all

The ìTurning Point Youth Centerî project is going to run concurrent with the building of Abundant Lifeís new church building.

The youth center will be a separate building on the site one mile west of North Branch on Hwy. 95.

According to Abundant Lifeís pastor Kevin Haseltine, it will be open to any high school youth.

ìWe would like to see every youth have a place to go,î he said.

Although the church is taking the initiative for the project, it will not be a religious center, Haseltine stressed.

The churchís vision, he said, ìis about loving the youths and letting them know we care.î

It will be a safe place, said Kelly Neider, one half of the youth leadership team at Abundant Life. He said it will be a real activity center where youths can entertain themselves in the evening.

The center will be open after school and in the evenings five days a week. Special events, such as concerts and programs, may also take place at the center on the weekends.

Kelly Neider, the female half of the leadership team (husband and wife both have the same first name) said it will be a place for such things as organized indoor skateboarding, much like the organized school athletic programs.

It will be a place for kids to call their own, Pastor Haseltine agreed, but added that there will obviously need to be rules and there will be adult supervisors. Parents will like that, they all agreed.

As is happening now with the youth activities at the church, where some 60 kids (many not church members) are stopping after school on Wednesdays, a leadership team, comprised of older youths and adults, will help organize many of the activities.

Plans are to begin construction this summer and have the youth center ready by early fall.

Funding the project

Teaming up with the folks at Abundant Life Church, where the teen center idea was conceived, is local auctioneer Bob Vande Kamp. Vande Kamp recently attended a session on charitable auctions at an auctioneerís conference.

He said he learned that if you identify the direct use of money raised for a charity - the purpose and where the money is going - people will fund it.

He agrees that the purpose has been identified and that here definitely will be a direct benefit to the teenagers of the area.
ìSo, letís fund it,î he said.

Vande Kamp has jumped on the bandwagon for the youth center believing it could be a place for young people from many communities to gather. He looks at it as a place where youths can feel valued and respected by adults and in return learn to value and respect adults.
Meanwhile, the folks at the church, stretching their financial limits already to build their new church building, were concerned about where the money would come from for the youth center, fearing they could not fund the youth center, too.

With visions of the new building and a youth center in mind, the deacons of the church said ìdo both.î

When Vande Kamp heard of the churchís plans for the youth center he said, ìLetís raise money for this thing.î

Haseltine said the fund raising would not be happening without Vande Kampís efforts.

Going, going, gone for the youth center

Coming up April 10 will be an exciting auction with activities starting early in the morning at the Miska farm 5 1/2 miles east of North Branch on Hwy. 95.

One hundred percent of the donations, sales commissions, gifts and business sponsorships for the auction will go toward building the $275,000 youth center. And Vande Kamp is donating all the auctioneering services.

A pre-auction party is being planned, starting about 9 a.m. There will be lots of activities and food, live bands and possibly even a hot air balloon.

It will be like the pre-game parties for Super Bowl, Vande Kamp said. The auction will start at 10:06 a.m.

Any number of items may be donated for the sale. All will be welcomed. Also, someone could have an item auctioned on consignment at the normal commission rate. But they could donate more than that percentage if they so desire, Vande Kamp added.

ìThe cause is great, the momentum is building,î Vande Kamp said, adding that some great donations have already been made.
All donations and contributions will be accepted including business sponsorships, estate donations, and personal donations.

Here are the phone numbers to call if you want to make a donation for the Turning Point Youth Center auction:
ï Vande Kamp Auctioneering: (651) 583-3121
ï Miska Farm: (651) 674-8612
ï Neider Youth Leadership: (651) 462-4800

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