Hamburgers weren’t all that was being served up at the Patagonia Youth Enrichment Center (PYEC) on Nov. 8. The annual fundraiser and celebration highlighted a bit of rebranding and a refreshed commitment to the center’s core values of strengthening community and empowering local youth.
The event was a huge success in every way, according to PYEC Director Anne Coleman, who was still working on clean up two days later. “It was a wonderfully exhausting evening, and I’m still trying to digest the feelings of pride and love in my heart,” she said. “I’d like to give a huge shout out to the kids and my daughter Caitlyn, who puts in all those hours nobody sees. The kids can count on her dedication.”
From ticket taking to raffle sales to waiting on tables, young people were front and center at the event. Throughout the evening, they were called to the mic to talk about the center and how it fit into their lives.
The center has been providing “a safe, healthy, happy environment” for local young people for over 11 years. Magali Santos spoke about how grateful she was for the center. Even though the official age for joining the PYEC is 10, she said, “I started coming here when I was just a little kid with my brother…It is like a second home.”
One of the new ways the PYEC is connecting with the community is through the creation of youth ambassadors who were introduced at the event. These are juniors and seniors who have participated with the PYEC since they were 10, and who are now being tasked with taking on leadership roles.
Caitlyn Coleman, PYEC program coordinator, explained, “They [youth ambassadors] represent us in the community. When they are at the center, they are role models, and they help out as much as they can.”
Although an official count was not taken, Anna Coleman estimated that about 200 people attended. Ticket sales were booming with 185 sold online before the event, but, at only $5 a meal, the food was more a thank-you to the community. Actual fundraising came from a raffle, silent auction, and individual donations. All raffle and silent auction items, mostly collected and organized by Callie Mattus, came from community donations.
PYEC has been hit by federal cutbacks this year. Anna Coleman explained that although PYEC does not directly receive any federal grants or funding, the center’s traditional donors and grantors do. PYEC relies on support from local nonprofits who have been hit by the cuts, who have in turn rolled back the grants they had previously awarded. As a result, individual donations are more important than ever.
Caleb Weaver, one of PYEC’s eight board members, said the funding crunch was felt deeply by the center’s garden project.
“The garden was created by the kids. We are collecting over 10,000 gallons of rainfall to feed plants here,” he said. “However, we ran out of grants, so the young people we used to hire to grow food, we can’t hire anymore. That is just where we are right now.”