This Year's Project: Urban Park Basketball Court
About Our Organization
Youth For Christ (YFC) exists to reach every 11-19 year old in Siouxland with the love of Christ, working together with the local church and other like-minded partners, to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus Christ. YFC has several ministry program strategies to enage the overlooked, ignored and lost at-risk students, who find themselves as victims or making poor life choices. YFC recruits, trains and develops caring adult ministry leaders who intentionally begin building trusting and authentic relationships while mentoring these lost young people.
Every day in our high schools and middle schools, juvenile institutions and local neighborhoods, YFC staff and ministry leaders meet with young people who are troubled, but hungry and thirsty for a hope and a future. We desire to give life to their story through high energy and engaging experiences.
Current Project: Urban Park Basketball Court
Siouxland Youth For Christ (YFC) exists to reach lost youth in the community. One way we reach 11-19 yr old students is through our neighborhood and community focused program called City Life, which meets the holistic needs of young people by building trusted relationships, mentoring life skills and introducing them to hope in Jesus.
During City Life afterschool programming we provide students with meals to meet the need of food insecurity, which many young people in our community are facing. In addition to our family meal time, students get to unwind from the school day with activities including gaga ball, pool, ping pong, basketball and soccer. However, our Sioux City location has not had the proper space for students to utilize outdoor activities, especially during program times. That's why we're so excited about the work that has already begun for our outdoor park project in Sioux City.
We were generously granted the funds to purchase the building and property adjacent to our building. Since then three contractors who are loyal partners with YFC stepped up to begin the landscaping for this park project.
Our outdoor park improvements will consist of a fully irrigated lawn, some shade trees, a 4 on 4 urban soccer field, a 3 on 3 basketball half court, picnic tables, benches, as well as perimeter fencing and security updates for the property and artistic additions to the property. This project will truly give life to the neighborhood!
We're excited for the neighborhood students who will come to use the YFC facilities, presenting new opportunities to meet their needs by building relationships and mentoring them about sports and life. In order for this to happen, we are asking for $10,000 towards the installation of a 30x30’ concrete court, painted lines, basketball pole and hoop, youth jerseys and basketball supplies needed to make this project possible.
Not only are your funds going towards the beautification of the near northside community and providing a safe place for neighborhood youth to gather, but you're providing the opportunity for youth to be a part of a team, build relationships and ultimately, find hope.
Thanks for being a part of this year's BIG GIVE and GIVING LIFE to your community!
YFC Camp Scholarships for 20 At-risk Students
Project Details
Note: This 2 min video represents what many of our student campers need and feel when attending a YFC Camp.
Siouxland Youth For Christ (YFC) is a growing ministry that provides students from Hawarden, Le Mars and Sioux City an opportunity to participate with YFC mentors and leaders in a life-changing camp experience every single year. Our YFC Camp motto is “Where Everything Changes”.
Our $9,000 Big Give goal is to provide 20 YFC Camp scholarships for at-risk students who are financially disqualified by cost. It costs $450 per student to attend YFC Camp for a life-changing experience. By helping to fully fund this project of 20 Camp Scholarships, you're helping local Siouxland students and families, who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford this experience.
Because of the growth in attendance of our life-changing camp experiences, more and more students want to participate. But most of these students come from families living at or below the poverty level. This can leave them paralyzed and fearful to approach their families to fund their participation in camp, which leaves them feeling leftout or disqualified. Therefore, the need is great to provide full-ride scholarships to almost 100% of the students who attend our YFC Camp.
Right now through midnight October 6th, your donation to our YFC Camp Scholarship project through the Siouxland Big Give will directly touch the lives of local families and at-risk students. You'll be providing them the opportunity of life-changing camp experience.
Please consider making your gift today and keep reading to see how you can DOUBLE YOUR GIFT. All funds raised through the Siouxland Big Give will go directly to provide YFC Camp Schoalrships. Again our goal is $9,000 for 20 camp scholarships by midnight October 6th.
So this is where you come in. You can be the HERO to our students and their families! What if you could help provide a financial gift of:
$50 to provide 5 student campers meals to and from YFC Camp
$100 to provide 10 student campers t-shirts for YFC Camp cabin competitions
$200 to provide 5 student campers bus transportation to and from YFC Camp
$450 to provide 1 student camper a full-ride YFC Camp scholarship
Any gift amount large or small goes directly towards providing Siouxland students a YFC Camp scholarship helping them attend a YFC Camp. Click on the Give button and give now. Your gift will make a difference.
Now for the really great news! We’re excited to share a faithful YFC partner (who experienced YFC Camp personally) is willing to help us meet or exceed our goal of 20 Camp Scholarships through the Siouxland Big Give. He is going to match dollar for dollar all gifts received through the Siouxland Big Give from now through midnight October 6th towards YFC Camp Scholarships up to $10,000. Now your giving power just doubled!
Please make you gift today and have it doubled. Thank you.
YFC Camp Scholarships for 10 At-risk Youth
Project Details
YFC Camp - "Where Everything Changes". YFC Camp is life changing for at-risk kids. Every winter and summer Siouxland Youth For Christ offers about 50-60 full scholarships for 11-19 year old at-risk kids in Siouxland. These scholarships average $450 per student and we are looking to fund 10 of these full scholarships for our upcoming 2020 Winter and Summer YFC Camps. We have kids already signing up on a waiting list.
The average kid who attends our camps and programs are at risk to high at risk middle school to high school students. They come from home environments experiencing one or no parent, domestic violence or abuse, and emotional, physical and financial neglect. They are highly at risk for and likely to be attracted to gangs, violence, drug abuse, abusive relationships and teen pregnancy.
YFC Camp scholarships provide kids a safe place to explore a healthy community and to open up about what might be going on at home and in their lives. The stories we hear at camp from kids sharing about home life are heart wrenching! They often disclose about self harming, suicidal thoughts, depression, abusive dating relationships, parents and siblings involved in gangs or incarcerated and unrelenting peer pressures.
YFC Camp scholarships not only provide at risk kids a safe space to get away from everyday life, but YFC Camp scholarships also provide a challanging outdoor learning expereince these kids would never be able to afford given their economic situation. Once a kid arrives day one, they receive an assigned cabin and cabin leader, usually assigned with their school friends and leaders from back home. This provides opportunities to learn and build community, which they don't often receive back home. Community is built around their group activities, cabin life and table time. While at camp kids will experience:
- creative games of learning to build trust and confidence
- ziplining, swimming, archery, basketball or volleyball
- a high energy club setting with music and skits
- opportunities for worship, prayer and biblical discussion
- rock climbing and water games
- family style dining allowing kids to experience family dynamics
All this in 4 to 5 days away from home. This is high energy with no time to feel homesick!
YFC Camp scholarships gives an at risk kid an opportunity to learn about God's love, to learn about and feel the love of Christ and to feel worthy in receiving this love. This is a gamechanger for the average at-risk kid as 40-50% of those attending camp make a decision to change their life. After camp we continue to follow up with these kids, continuing to build trusting relationships through our other ministry and mentoring programs. They come back and get involved in a Campus Life program at their school, a City Life program at a neighborhood teen center or begin a new mentoring relationship with a trusted adult.
These Siouxland kids are our future. They are looking for direction and guidance. They are looking to be mentored. A YFC Camp Scholarship can and is often the catylyst of life change needed in a kid's life. This investment of developing their understanding of being a future leader in their home, school and neighborhood can change a kid, a family, a neighborhood. YFC Camp scholarships give these kids an opportunity to genuilely feel the love of Christ and feel worthy of that love. And that can be all the difference in their world for life change.
You can make a difference by providing a $450 scholarship or a partial scholarship for an at-risk kid. Large or small, your investment into an at-risk kid is an investment in a life story. Give life to a kid's story. Give towards YFC Camp scholarships.
Youth For Christ Before and After School Programs
Project Details
Part of the weekly programming and services Siouxland Youth For Christ offers to over 200 11-19 year olds include before and after school programs in the 3 comunities of Hawarden, Le Mars and the Sioux City Near Northside along with 5 middle schools and high schools in these communties.
- Our campus based before and after school ministry programs combine healthy relationships between students and caring adult leaders with creative programs to help young people make good choices, establish a solid foundation for life, and positively impact their peers, families and schools in a safe environment. The programming includes: snacks, creative games, lessons about relevant daily issues students face, small group trips, outdoor camp experieinces and so much more.
- Our community based after school programs are an effective ministry model to transform the lives of urban youth, their families and the communities that they live in. These programs also combine healthy relationships between students and caring adult leaders with creative programs to help young people make good choices, establish a solid foundation for life, and positively impact their peers, families and communities in a safe environment. The programming includes: weekly family style dinners, snacks, creative group games, lessons about relevant daily issues students face, group trips, outdoor camp experieinces, sports and recreation and so much more.
We have a current need for $8,000 to resource the food and supplies portions of these programs. For our campus based programs we specifically need to fund our snacks, games and small group trip costs. And for our community based programs we specifically need to fund our snacks, weekly dinners, sport activities and small group trip costs. Thank you for considering an investment into the life a young person, to give them and hope and a future.