Annual dinner, auction to benefit YES

SPIRIT LAKE – For teens who aren’t on the sports teams at school, there just isn’t much to do in Spirit Lake once school’s done for the day.

So they hang out in front of the grocery store, Shelley Tschida says, at the skate park even if they don’t skate, or head into the woods to drink beer or “roughneck on ATVs.”

Inevitably, trouble ensues.

Tschida, a City Council member and executive director of Spirit Lake’s Youth Equipped for Success, wants to make a place for kids in Spirit Lake, somewhere they can find help on homework, hook up with mentors and just plain have fun.

A benefit Saturday could bring her vision of a drop-in center for Spirit Lake’s teens and ’tweens one step closer to becoming a reality and expand the after school and summer programs YES already offers.

Many have volunteered labor and materials to construct a building, but Tschida said YES first needs to raise money to purchase a site in town.

“These kids really do need a place and a space of their own,” she said. Right now the organization is using the back room of Tschida’s business, but the program is quickly outgrowing the space.

Organizations like United Way, the Inland Northwest Community Foundation and the Idaho Community Foundation have provided matching grants that help keep the program operating, but YES needs to raise money for land on its own.

Tickets are still available for Saturday’s third Annual Benefit Dinner and Auction, which will be held at the Fireside beginning at 6 p.m. with an auction preview and drinks on the lawn.

Keeping with the town’s Centennial celebration theme, the event will feature a “Logger Camp” buffet with pot roast, barbecue turkey and trimmings. Casual dress or dressing like a logger is encouraged.

Tickets are $35 each or $30 each for five or more tickets.

Auction items include a sailboat cruise for four, cabins at Silver Beach, original artwork by Spirit Lake’s Dorothy Porter, dental services and gift certificates. Donations are still being accepted.

Program Coordinator Cam Criswell said YES is also in need of volunteers to act as mentors or help in other ways. The goal is to have a ratio of at least one adult for every five kids participating in YES programs, so each child receives as much one-on-one time as possible.

“We need individuals in this community who have the vision to see where we as a community can go for our children,” Tschida said.