Take to the skies and join us as we soar to new heights on May 4, 2024 for Take Flight with YC, our Annual Benefit & Auction at the Aviator Event Center & Pub (former 100th Bomb Group). This event is scheduled to board at 7 PM and will land at 11 PM. 

Tickets are still on sale at www.YouthChallengeSports.com/Benefit. Tickets are $160 each.  

This year’s event will feature delicious food and drinks, live entertainment, an engaging Fund-a-Need presentation, and a can’t-miss silent auction. We can’t wait to take in the views of planes and the NASA Glenn Research Center from this amazing venue! 

Funds raised will go towards maintaining our free accessible transportation program. Transportation can be a major barrier for participants in attending and enjoying programs. Many families have challenges shuffling kids to after-school activities, and the need for wheelchair-accessible transportation makes it even more difficult. Ninety-five percent of participants receive transportation from YC’s fleet of accessible vehicles, and participants love the experience of chatting with drivers and each other on the way to and from programs! 

Whether or not you can make it to the event, you can still support Youth Challenge (and have a chance to win big):  

• The silent auction goes live on Monday, April 29, so make sure to register early to get notified at www.YouthChallengeSports.com/Benefit.  
• $10,000 Cash Raffle Tickets are your chance to win one of TWO great prizes. Only 300 tickets will be sold, so make sure to purchase your ticket early. Winners will be drawn at the event on May 4. Tickets are $100 each. Prizes:  
  • • • • First Prize: $7,500
        • Second Prize: $2,500

Take Flight with YC promises to be a night filled with excitement and fun, all while supporting a great cause. So, travel on down to the Aviator for a night to remember. You don’t want to miss this flight! 

 

 

The Youth Challenge mission has a way of bringing people together—whether it’s bringing young people with physical disabilities together with teen volunteers, bringing the East Side and West Side participants together for a Crosstown or Football Showdown, or even rallying staff members of local businesses and other organizations together for the cause.

For the Chungs, YC has literally brought their family together! Jennifer and Thomas Chung first met at a volunteer training in 1995 and married in 2002. Today, they have five kids—Sam (18), Washington (16), Max (13), Atticus (11), and Juliet (6). Washington and Max volunteer at YC, and Max was in the top 15 volunteers on the West Side in 2023!

Thomas said that being a part of Youth Challenge has helped Jennifer and him connect through shared values such as compassion and community service and that they have been able to pass those values on to their children. Together, Thomas and Jennifer had the opportunity to work with Mini Camp participants and watch them grow up to thrive as alumni participants who give back to YC.

“We have a shared connection through creating lasting memories through volunteerism,” Thomas said.

Thomas came to that 1995 volunteer training fresh from the Marine Corps—his friend Hilary recruited him to YC to help lift participants and to be a male influence at programs. By the time Jennifer met Thomas, she was a seasoned teen volunteer, having volunteered at YC for about six years. Eventually, Jennifer became a board intern and then a program staff member. As a program staff member, she helped plan YC’s first Art Fest.

Thomas became a van driver. He would buy donuts for the participants he’d pick up and ask them how their days at school were. By the time they got to program, he would make sure everyone finished their donuts and wiped powdered sugar off their clothes and wheelchairs!

“We were friends before we started dating, and by the time we started dating, I realized he became my best friend,” Jennifer said. “We spent a lot of time together that year at different Youth Challenge events and then getting together with the staff outside.”

Over 20 years later, Thomas and Jennifer see the impact YC has made on their kids. They have seen Max and Washington grow in compassion, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. When Max and Washington come to programs, they have an opportunity to see everything that goes into making Youth Challenge work—from pickup and dropoff to snacks and bathroom breaks.

“From the beginning, Mary Sue created something really special,” Jennifer said. “YC is an organization unparalleled in many ways where children could be themselves and gain confidence and have fun and learn skills and build friendships and be uninhibited by any physical limitations that might be present in other settings.”

If there’s one thing we love, it’s bringing people together for some good old-fashioned fun, and that’s exactly what we’ve been up to at Mayfield High School on the East Side!

For three Thursdays straight this February, our VAN-tastic group of participants joined forces with the students of Mayfield High School for what can only be described as a whirlwind of laughter and excitement: the Goofy Games. This program gave Mayfield Service Club members a chance to try their hand at volunteering on their own turf after completing volunteer training.

At Mayfield, we played a variety of lively and active games. From the adrenaline rush of Jersey Snatch, where every participant tried to outmaneuver their opponents to protect their pinny while nabbing others’, to the hilarious chaos of Kangaroos and Crocs, where teams chased each other down at the drop of a hat, there was never a dull moment.

But the fun didn’t stop there! We also put our brains to the test with games like Counting Out, where quick thinking and even quicker feet were the name of the game. Math skills were never so crucial as participants scrambled to form groups at lightning speed, all while avoiding elimination.

Not only that, we also indulged in games like Fowling—a delightful mashup of football, bowling, and cornhole that had everyone cheering—and Beach Ball Bonanza, where teams worked together to launch and catch balls with gusto. We even played a game that combined Sitting Volleyball with Chutes and Ladders!

With each passing Thursday, the bonds between our group and the students of Mayfield High School grew stronger, fueled by shared laughter and a healthy dose of competition. As we bid farewell to the Goofy Games, we couldn’t help but feel grateful for the memories made and the friendships forged.

Until next time, Mayfield High School—stay goofy!

Participants and volunteers are using their culinary creativity at YC’s new Food Art program this winter! During this program, the YC crew makes art projects that look like food and also creates edible art projects.

Each week has a food theme, and the first week’s theme is the YC Café! Participants and volunteers entered the YC café as ambient music music played. That’s when our “head barista,” Arts Manager Megan Smith, gave instructions for the first project. Program attendees made hot cocoa, but not the kind you want to drink! This hot cocoa is for decoration only (or maybe to be used for pranking friends and family!) Participants and volunteers used piping to top mugs with spackle as whipped cream, then painted on puffy paint hot fudge, grated brown chalk to be chocolate shavings, and used broken crayon pieces of all colors as sprinkles!

After participants finished their projects, they were awarded the opportunity to make REAL hot cocoa. First, participants and volunteers decorated paper cups and came up with drink names to add to the YC Café menu board. Drink names ranged from “Caramel Frappe Cocoa” to “The Blue and Red Monster” to “Mario Kart & Cappy Special.” Finally, they could make their hot cocoa with toppings ranging from cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, sprinkles, peppermint, and marshmallows.

All in all, participants and volunteers had a WOO-nderful time and are looking forward to future food art sessions!

 

The only thing typical about a week at YC is that it is never typical. The scope of services far surpasses a run-of-the-mill recreation menu. It’s cliché to say that we all wear a lot of hats, but there is both monumental truth and profound pride in that statement. We embrace the roles that keep us moving forward, helping each other to be the best version of ourselves every step of the way.  

Spanning Greater Cleveland from Shaker to North Ridgeville, this “typical” week on the program side includes traditional programming for kids and teen volunteers, individual and group sessions for alumni, and outreach engagements to a wide array of entities. The development team is often engaged in lending a helping hand at programs so they can best understand organizational needs.  

Everyone pitches in, and no task is too small. It isn’t hard to see why YC is most commonly and appropriately referred to in the context of “family.”  For those who ever wondered what happens with our family behind the external walls at 800 Sharon Drive, fasten your seatbelts and hold on to your hats, because your head is about to spin! 

 

Sunday 

6:00 pm – Ellen packs her bag for tomorrow’s YC alumni overnight retreat to Cuyahoga Valley National (CVNP) Park. 

Monday 

10:30 am – Ken feverishly works on 2024 preliminary budget. 

12:00 pm – Chris, Lisa, and Ellen arrive at CVNP’s Stanford House with YC alumni. 

12:30 pm – Abbie, Olivia, and Laurel meet to discuss lesson plans for this week’s Urban Community School “Academy” session.  

1:00 pm – Carolyn and Benefit Committee members meet to discuss menu and tasting for 2024 Annual Benefit & Auction.  

6:15 pm – Laurel and Carolyn discuss potential group volunteer opportunities at annual Halloween Party.  

Tuesday 

9:30 am – Angelica and Jen meet to discuss grant funding opportunities in Lorain County. 

10:30 am – Abbie sends out Volunteer Training information to prospective teen volunteers.  

12:00 pm – Megan submits an application to be a host site for Accessible Expressions Ohio 2024 Art Show. 

4:00 pm – Chris and Angelica meet with St. Edward President K.C. McKenna and teacher Anthony Mortimer to discuss a potential maker fair collaboration in April.   

4:35 pm – Abbie  pivots the program plan for Adapted Art & Activities when we are rained out at Emerald Necklace Marina. 

 

Wednesday 

9:00 am – Ellen watches a webinar about creating a recurring gift program with donors.  

11:15 am – Jen industriously researches grant opportunities for rock climbing programs. 

1:30 pm – Lisa and Mackenzie connect with LGBT Community Center on Zoom about collaborative staff trainings for our respective agencies. 

3:25 pm – Driving Wanda the Honda to the program in Lorain County, Olivia answers Disney trivia questions with participant Eva. 

4:45 pm – Mackenzie, on all fours, digs through the brush at South Central Park in North Ridgeville, trying to find missing arrows after a round of archery.  

 

Thursday 

7:30 am – Laurel and Chris meet at YC before picking up Sara at her apartment, then head to the Cleveland FBI office for a presentation.  

10:30 am – Jimmy  scours the internet, researching how Cerebral Palsy affects joint movement relative to exercise.  

12:00 pm – Jimmy works in the fitness center with Alex, prepping her for para powerlifting competition.  

3:30 pm – Carolyn and Jen visits Patton Painting’s monthly employee happy hour to talk about YC and the upcoming Painter-for-a-Day fundraiser. 

4:54 pm – In Highland Heights Community Park, Laurel leads a Ghosts in the Graveyard game during Spooky Sports.  

 

Friday 

9:02 am – Ken works on repairing the broken accessible water fountain in the main lobby. 

10:43 am – Winner! Ken Kasler 1, Water Fountain 0. 

1:00 pm – Chris returns from the storage garage with a van full of hockey equipment for Sunday’s Ice Breaker event.  

2:30 pm – Laurel returns a call from St. Peter’s School about coming to YC for a field trip.  

3:30 pm – Olivia packs the snack bag and gathers soccer equipment before practice in Avon.  

4:40 pm – After stretching, YC’s soccer athletes begin a round of footgolf scramble with their partners.  

 

Saturday 

5:15 pm – Puck drops at Ice Breaker 2023 at Thornton Park Ice Rink. Shaker Heights High School varsity players are in the middle of an intense sled hockey game with YC athletes.  

6:30 pm – Staff load vans, and participants head home. It was a good week.  

 

Sean Walker and Chris Garr were invited to the Toyota Emerging Athletes Camp with Boccia United States after Sean’s impressive showing in the semifinals at USA Boccia Nationals this past August. Sean and Chris traveled to the Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama for this two-day camp on October 26-27.

Sean and Chris trained for two days alongside national team athletes under the direction of Boccia United States coaches. The training sessions covered tactical and technical aspects of the boccia. Sean and Chris were able to share some of their experience with younger athletes who show high-performance potential but also learn from elite boccia players as they prepare for the 2023 ParaPan Games in Santiago, Chile in late November. The Emerging Athletes Camp was paid for by a generous grant from Toyota in support of Team USA.

Sean and Chris play the sport of Boccia together as teammates. Sean is classified as a BC3 in boccia, meaning he plays with a ramp and a ramp operator. Chris has been Sean’s ramp operator since the two started YC’s program 10 years ago. Chris and Team YC head coach Jimmy Abraham also assist Team USA as team staff for various international competitions.

Lakeshore Foundation is proud to be the National Governing Body of Boccia United States. Since Boccia’s introduction as a Paralympic sport in 1984, the United States has won seven medals.

Romaine is a participant who truly embodies the spirit of YC. He is fearless and ready for any activity, whether it be sports or arts and crafts, and his adventurous attitude is contagious!   

Romaine got connected with YC through Sunbeam School and the Cleveland Sight Center, and his first YC program was our 2022 Halloween party! Full of curiosity, Romaine jumped right into all the spooky fun that night. His first-ever teen volunteer was Kerry, a veteran volunteer who showed him around YC and had fun playing basketball with him. To this day, Romaine enjoys shooting hoops with his volunteers before each program begins. This season, Romaine has been a welcome participant in many of our programs, including Soccer, Football, and Spooky Sports! 

As a soccer player, he is great at tracking the ball and passing to his teammates or scoring as a striker. During the football season, he always makes himself open to catch passes and is a challenging defender to get past if you can! Romaine gives his all to any activities and sprints more than he walks. He finds fun even in the moments between activities and is always smiling. But don’t ever question his seriousness on the field—he will be sure to let you know how great of an athlete and competitor he is. Other YC programs he has participated in include Rock Climbing, Skiing, Baseball, Basketball, and more.   

He always brings a strong energy to our programs and will have his volunteer partners “getting their steps in” as he races around to try everything and say hi to his friends! YC would not be the same without the enthusiasm Romaine brings! 

What an exciting last couple of months we had at YC!

Winter/Spring is our longest and most diverse season of programming. In April, we had four weeks of Sled Hockey on both sides of town. Mondays and Tuesdays were spent on the ice at Gilmour Academy and North Olmsted Recreation Center, learning the basics of sled hockey with skill-building drills and fun games.

We had three service days dedicated to giving back to the community. Participants and volunteers collected supplies or made projects for local organizations, including Cleveland Reads, The Mat Project, Refugee Response, 1,000 Ties, Lorain County Main Library Book Drive, West Side Catholic Center, and Cleveland APL.

One of this season’s program initiatives was to expand our east side teen volunteer pool. We had three Art & Games programs in February at Mayfield High School. The students went through our virtual volunteer training to prepare, then met with Volunteer Manager Abbie Hair and Alumni Engagement & DEI Manager Lisa Friel after each program to debrief and collect feedback on how YC can make the volunteer experience more equitable.

We look forward to more opportunities to connect with each other and try new things this summer!

Helping at Youth Challenge is a family affair for the Douglas family.

Dan was introduced to YC by his wife, Sharon, who volunteered in the 1980s when she was a student at Magnificat High School and served on program staff while she was in college. Sharon’s brother, Bill, was a participant. Sharon works part-time at YC as a Development Assistant.

Dan has been a board member at Youth Challenge (YC) since 2016. Professionally he has served in several leadership roles in Marketing at Swagelok. The Swagelok Foundation has been a financial supporter of YC for several years. Dan has been involved with YC’s marketing and development board committees. You may also see him with his camera at one of our programs. His passion for photography and dedication to YC provides some of the great photos we post on social media or use for other promotional materials.

Dan and Sharon’s daughters, Zoe and Lucy, have both volunteered at YC. Zoe began volunteering around 2013 as a teen, served on the Volunteer Committee,  and still helps with the annual benefit. She now works at Hickman & Lowder (H&L), a disability law firm she found through a YC connection. Lucy is a current teen volunteer who has made many friends at YC and was selected to join the Volunteer Committee for her senior year of high school.

Dan believes in YC’s mission to provide opportunities for participants and volunteers to come together and form friendships through adaptive sports and other programs.

“The difference the YC experience has made for my daughters as volunteers and some of their participant friends is fantastic,” Dan said.  “I see them take the experience, internalize it, and use it to support diversity, equality and inclusion in the community.”

Youth Challenge has been and always will continue to be an important part of Douglas family life. The YC family is grateful for the Douglas family’s decades of service to our mission!

Youth Challenge has a beautiful Makerspace at its Westlake Campus to create art, but sometimes we like to get out into the community! The Elyria Arts Council, a community art gallery that offers classes, hosted four Fiber Arts programs in March. The seven participants and their volunteers worked on two main projects—a pizza plushie and a tie-dye pillow. 

Over the course of three weeks, participants learned valuable sewing skills such as whip stitching and hand sewing. They also had the opportunity to use a sewing machine to create their pillows. The pizza plushies were made entirely by hand, showcasing the participants’ newly acquired sewing skills. 

One of the most interesting parts of the program was the tie-dyeing technique used on the front of the pillows. Based on the Shibori Japanese fabric dying technique, participants and volunteers folded a white cloth napkin, colored the edges with Sharpies, and soaked them in isopropyl alcohol to give them a tie-dye effect. This technique allowed for the creation of unique and beautiful patterns on each pillow. 

After three weeks of hard work, the program concluded with a pizza party and the opportunity for participants and volunteers to create their own additional fiber arts projects. This allowed them to put their newly acquired skills to the test and express their creativity. 

We are so grateful to Elyria Arts Council for donating their space to us. This generous contribution allowed the program to take place and provided a safe and welcoming space for participants to learn and create. Youth Challenge plans to participate in Elyria Arts Council’s Art Walk this summer, a community art gallery where individuals and community groups can create 4 by 8-foot murals to share their stories and to be displayed at Elyria’s Main Branch Library and receive a small donation from Elyria Arts Council.  

We look forward to seeing where this new partnership takes us! For more information, please visit elyriaartscouncil.org.  

Team YC had a successful trip to Columbus for the Jack Attack Boccia Tournament on February 25-26, 2023.

The Jack Attack tournament was the first USA Boccia regional of 2023 and had a great turnout with great competition. Five YC athletes competed in 3 boccia classes (BC1, BC2, BC3.) Learn more here about boccia classifications.

BC1 Will Gallup placed third in the BC1 category with some of his best boccia yet in Columbus! Will has put a lot of work into his practice focusing, which showed during competition, placing 3rd n BC1. Bob Vitko, another BC1 athlete, played well and gave his competition a good fight. He ended the competition on a win with some positive momentum to take into the next tournament.

BC2 After a long break from the sport, Sara Steimle came back right where she left off as one of the more skilled BC2 players in the region! Unfortunately, with a few breaks going against Sara, she narrowly missed placing in the tournament. However, she looks forward to carrying her momentum into the next tournament!

BC3 Sean Walker placed second and showed great perseverance competing well with a new ramp in multiple last-minute comebacks. For George Shepherd, YC’s newest and youngest boccia athlete, this was his second competition but first legitimate regional tournament, and he played very well! Competing against some of the better BC3 players in the region, George showed off some impressive shots and most of all had the best dance moves all tournament long!

The YC Boccia Narwhals showed what it means to have success in style! The team sports its new jerseys, courtesy of Empower Customs, and they were a hit. The team looks forward to the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA) Games in May!

 

Krista Allison, Ms. Wheelchair Ohio 2022, is a new member of the YC Board of Trustees. She became involved after Youth Challenge CEO Chris Garr saw an article about her in the city newsletter, The Berean, and decided to reach out to Krista to share about Youth Challenge.

“Krista is a rockstar at advocacy,” Chris said. “We are honored to have a role model and leader like her as a part of our YC community.”

Since last spring, Krista has been a regular at YC events. Krista has attended various Youth Challenge events, including fundraisers such as Where Will Color Take You? and the Topgolf Outing, as well as programs such as kayaking at Wallace Lake. Her favorite event so far has been the March for Access in Cleveland, which Youth Challenge attended as a member of ADA Cleveland.

“I love that Youth Challenge allows children of all different abilities to come in and feel a part of something bigger and to make friends that maybe they don’t have the opportunity to make at school,” Krista said.

When Krista is not at Youth Challenge, she is a fierce advocate for community accessibility—her chosen platform as Ms. Wheelchair Ohio. In this role, Krista meets with various government and community leaders and works with other organizations similar to YC. Currently, she is working to advocate for communities to adopt a Residential ADA Form so that households can alert first responders if there is a person with a disability living in their home.

“I really think the title [Ms. Wheelchair Ohio] has given me a sense of purpose,” Krista said. “I always knew I had a purpose; I just didn’t know what it was, and as soon as I got the title and started branching out and meeting different people and connecting, it’s just been the best experience of my life.”

Krista lives with her husband, Bob, and her 18-year-old daughter Hannah. She is a federal government employee with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and a master’s degree in Public Administration.

“I’m really grateful to be here [on the YC Board of Trustees,]” Krista said. “I’m really grateful that Chris asked me. I’m grateful for all of you that you’ve all come into my life, and I’m just so happy.”

Life as an adult with a disability can sometimes become lonely, but the alumni programs are a great outlet for many YC alumni to stay connected.

Alumni staff members Sara Steimle, Gabby Bova and Sean Walker began sending out cards and care packages to those in the alumni community who may be going through a hard time or are not able to be as active in the YC community as they hope to be. They also created a card-making station in the YC lobby for alumni to make cards for their peers in need. The team decided expanding their efforts would be a great opportunity for other alumni to give back and serve their peers in need, so they formed a Kindness Committee.

“I think it’s important to spread kindness especially in the YC alumni community,” Sara said. “Interacting with other people is vital to our mental health and physical well-being and it can be more challenging to do this for those with disabilities.”

The Kindness Committee meets monthly on Zoom and is open to any YC alum to attend. The committee provides support and spreads joy through phone calls, text messages, emails, cards, and care packages. The Kindness Committee is working toward pairing each alum on the kindness committee with an alum in need of support to check in with one another.

“We want to show that we’re still here for them and that they’re not alone,” Sara said.

Greer Gibbons began her term as the first volunteer alumna Board President of Youth Challenge this January. Over the last 20 years, Greer has served in nearly every capacity at YC—as a teen volunteer, summer staff member, Young Professionals for Youth Challenge (YP4YC) member, trustee, and now as Board President!

“Greer has grown up with YC and truly lives the mission,” Chris Garr, CEO at Youth Challenge, said. “With a unique and fully encompassing perspective, she brings decades of knowledge to her role as president.”

Greer’s YC journey began in 2000 when YC staff member Laurel Sweet spoke to her grade school class. Soon after, Greer volunteered at her first program, which was a fishing event. She quickly realized that YC was not only an organization but a way of life. The participants, volunteers, and staff make YC a truly inclusive place for people of all backgrounds to find themselves and their voices.

“YC is a place where people can come as they are, belong to a part of something bigger than themselves, and be valued for who they are and what they bring to the table,” Greer said. “It’s a safe environment for participants and volunteers to learn, grow, laugh, and have fun.”

When Greer is not at YC, she works as a Global Project Manager for the Lubrizol Corporation. Greer’s incredible ‘can do’ attitude, coupled with her subject matter expertise and commitment to non-negotiable quality, shines through her work, both at Lubrizol and the boardroom at YC. Plus, she’s flexed her science skills with her Lubrizol colleagues to host fun and educational programming at YC!

In her spare time, Greer is a huge baseball fan and loves going on adventures in the National Parks. Her dream is to visit all 50 states and all seven continents! When she’s not gallivanting all over the world, she can be found at her home in Cleveland reading or spending time with family and friends. Not only has Greer served others at YC, but she is also involved in her community as a mentor through the Greater Cleveland College Now Program, through the Cleveland Zoological Society’s group for young professionals, and through her church.

“We have a lot of amazing talent at Youth Challenge,” Greer said. “I want to be able to do my part in contributing to a collaborative and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, and they can be their authentic selves.”

 

Madi Doletzky, a senior psychology major at University of Akron, loved connecting with YC participants as a program intern this past fall.

 

“It was great getting to know the kids and see their different ways of life because I had never been in their shoes,” Madi said. 

 

Madi plays Division 1 lacrosse for the University of Akron. She is also the Vice President of the Outdoor Adventure Club and does intermural sports at the university. Last but not least, she took sign language classes and has been involved in the deaf community since her freshman year of high school. Madi aspires to one day be a sports psychologist so that she can help college and professional athletes through mental blocks, such as challenges with coaches or teammates.

 

“Sports are so much more than going out and playing,” Madi said. “They teach you how to work with other people, they teach you how to push through things, they teach you how to not give up when it seems like that’s the only option.”

 

Youth Challenge’s Westlake office was a 50-minute commute for Madi, a trip that she found worth the while. Madi described her role at YC as somewhere in between being a staff member and a volunteer. She helped lead programs and interpret for participants who are deaf but also served one-on-one as a volunteer to participants when needed. Madi got to experience a whole gamut of programs, ranging from Football to Court Sports to Net Sports to the YELP camping trip. One of her favorite things was simply talking to participants and getting to know them on a more personal level as a van aide.

 

“Every moment that I’m there, it doesn’t matter what else is going on in life,” Madi said. “I can just be so present and be with all the participants there and just have so much fun.”

 

Madi has been an athlete for most of her life. After facing the performance pressures of college athletics, Madi said it was powerful for her to be able to help make sports accessible for young people with disabilities at Youth Challenge, allowing them to experience athletics and being on a team without focusing on their limitations.

 

“It really just gave me a fresh look after 18 years of me playing sports,” Madi said.

 

The YC family gathered on Friday, December 9, for the film premiere of the first in-person holiday show in three years, North Pole News! Instead of having a traditional live theatre performance we’ve done in the past, this year’s show was prerecorded during rehearsals, and holiday show guests got to watch the premiere of the final product.

 

Over the course of five weeks, participants and volunteers worked together to write, direct, produce and perform their own version of what a news segment at the North Pole would look like, complete with the latest breaking baking news, candy cane crimes, and all the grinchy gossip. During the premiere, participants and volunteers got “star treatment” complete with a red carpet and photo ops, courtesy of cameraman (and YC board member) Dan Douglas! Before the film began, holiday show cast members were asked questions in front of the audience such as “Can you tell us about the character you play?” and “What is your favorite part of filming?”

 

During the holiday show, Youth Challenge recognized endowment funders, the top 10 teen volunteers, and the volunteer of the year. The volunteer of the year was former Board Member Dave Lowery. He was chosen for the award because of his leadership in Youth Challenge’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. 

 

Not only did holiday show guests get the chance to see a WOO-nderful film, but they also got to view artwork created by participants and volunteers. One of those art pieces was an abstract painting by Nautica Sullins, who submitted her piece to Art Expressions Ohio.

 

Thank you to the Cyrus Eaton Foundation for funding the holiday show and the participants and volunteers for working hard to put it together!