Yard sale cash for a cause

For local teens, sales

and community service go

together.

Sidney’s teen outreach

program, which is based out

of the Community Action

Partnership of Western

Nebraska (CAPWN) office,

is hosting a yard sale this

Saturday for its community

service project.

Money raised at the sale

will go toward the purchase

of games and furnishings at

the CAPWN office.

“We want to make it a

more fun youth hangout,”

said Brenda Dickinson,

who does youth, family and

community outreach for

CAPWN.

Workers at the office

would like to buy an Xbox

and some games—and

couches and chairs for the

hangout and study areas.

They hope this will help in

their efforts to persuade

more kids to stay around the

office. They’ve been working

to remodel the building

for the last eight months or

so and could use the extra

funds to help perfect their

hangout space.

“They say there’s nothing

to do,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson would like more

young people to come to the

center because it’s a safe

place for them to socialize

with their peers, she said.

CAPWN is a community

based organization

that serves those who are

not able to meet their own

needs, including low-income

families and youth. It was

founded in 1965 and serves

more than 9,000 people.

Betsy Roose, director

of youth programs at the

Panhandle Public Health

District says that the teen

outreach program is funded

by a grant called the personal

responsibility education

program. This is a federal

grant that is contracted

out by the state. The teen

outreach program serves 12

and 13 year olds, she said.

The Sidney chapter of the

program currently has 10

teen participants.

CAPWN would ideally

follow this group of kids as

they grow up and try to

assist them with various

needs even into early adulthood.

“We try to extend and

work with young adults,”

Roose said.

At Sidney’s CAPWN center,

workers teach teens and

young adults about money

management, job hunting

skills, personal hygiene and

much more.

“You name it, we do it,”

Dickinson said.

They also help kids deal

with anger issues, stress,

teach parenting techniques

and help students with

homework. The office asked

the community to donate

items to sell at the yard sale

and received a fair amount

of contributions.

“They’ve got quite a bit

in there,” Dickinson said. “I

think they’ll have a good

sale.”

The teen outreach program

is designed to run

along with the school year,

so the yard sale will be the

culmination of a year’s work

for these kids. The program

is focused on educating

young people about the various

issues they might face

as they grow up.

“The goal of the curriculum

is to reduce dropout and

teen pregnancy,” Roose said.

Teens who stick with the

program are much more

likely to stay in school than

their peers who don’t get

involved with it, she said.

The teen pregnancy rate in

Cheyenne county is slightly

higher than the rates in the

rest of the state, Roose said.

The workers at CAPWN

try not to bring judgment

into their teaching. They are

trained to provide accurate

health information, but not

to push values on the kids.

Their goal is to encourage

the teens and young adults

to make healthy choices.

“We provide a value-neutral

approach,” Roose said.

Sidney’s teen outreach

program yard sale is taking

place Saturday, June 15,

from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at

the CAPWN office, which

is located at 2241 Illinois

Street.