Hello! My name is Jenna Erickson and I am the 2014 chair of the United Way Youth Team. It is such an honor for me to be in this position to work on the events that the team has to present to the community this year.

I am so excited for everyone to see what we have to offer. The members of the team this year are so motivated, creative, passionate, and just cannot wait to present all the hard work that they have been doing to everyone. We hope the community is as excited as we are.

The United Way Youth Team just kicked off its campaign at the beginning of this month. Proceeds from the youth team events benefit the Community Action Fund. Last year funds raised at youth team events helped start Link Crew, which is a peer to peer mentoring program at the high school. At the start of the school year, the Link Crew Leaders welcomed freshmen into the high school community. Many of the youth team members are also a part of the Link Crew program.

Now I’m going to turn it over to Emily Hopkins, the producer of our first event Dinner Over Diamond.

Hi, everybody! I am so excited to be able to present this event to the community in just a few short days! Dinner Over Diamond will be a wonderful opportunity for the community to prepare for the upcoming high school sports season and will give kids the chance to play games and hang out with the Hilltoppers themselves. We are so lucky to be able to have Bob’s Bodacious Barbecue as our caterer this year, and the whole United Way Youth Team is eager to be able to serve all of our guests.

This event will be occurring 4-7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 7 on the overpass right outside of Griffith Gym. If the weather is uncooperative as it was last year, we have a backup location set up for the dinner. Admission for adults will be $20 and $10 for students and children. 

Remember, all of the proceeds go to support Link Crew and various programs and organizations that help make our community a great place to live! We hope to see everyone there, and be sure to look out for all of the upcoming United Way Youth Team events this fall!