Being blessed by true community partnerships

 About five years ago Bridges reached a critical point where we realized we were serving hundreds of middle school students each year and then sort of abandoning them when they got to high school.  High school students would come visit us at the middle schools and talk about the challenges of high school and how we really needed to have Bridges at high school because they missed it.

At this point in our ministry we were still really small and only had two full-time staff and one part-time, plus we didn't have much money or a place to run any kind of a high school program.  As an organization we began praying that God would open some doors and provide a way for us to meet the needs of our students.  Sure enough, God provided and made a way for us to continue being a part of our students' lives and their stories.

We knew that the program would have to be in the evening, because all of our staff would be with the middle school students everyday after school.  We also knew that the location of the program would need to be somewhere centrally located, since transportation is often an issue with our students.  The first place we thought of was the Kokomo YMCA.  We had a good relationship with the Executive Director, Dave Dubois, and it was the perfect location, plus they're a Christian organization.  Sure enough, when we approached Dave with the idea of running a Bridges Outreach program in the evening at their building, him and the staff at the Y were totally on board.  They were actually in the process of cleaning out a room that would be perfect for us and they said it was all ours, we could even decorate it and paint it however we wanted.

What a huge blessing!!!  All we were looking for was somewhere to hang out with our high school students for a couple of hours a few days a week and the Y blesses us with a place we can call our own! We quickly went to work painting, decorating and making the room our own.  We tried to make the room as welcoming and homy as we could, we even posted pictures of our students all over the room.

Over the next five years some pretty awesome stuff would happen in that room.  We spent countless hours with our students in there.  Helping them with homework, playing games with them and going through God's Word, teaching them about His unbelievable love and grace.  Eventually we hired a full-time staff person to run our high school program, which we named Bridges-to-College, or BTC, and we outgrew that room that the Y had blessed us with.  Then the Y went a step further and opened up the HYVE, their teen center, to our program and students.

This year we decided to transition our high school program and move it to Kokomo High School, with the hopes of having a larger impact and presence with the student body there.  We are an organization that prides ourself on the partnerships we've been able to build to better our community and specifically the young people in Kokomo.  Our partnership with the Y allowed us to take a program that did not exist, to a program that has served hundreds of kids each year.  As we move forward we're really excited about growing our program and really making an impact on the culture at KHS, but we wouldn't be where we are now without the support of the Kokomo YMCA!



   

Thank You Michelle!

With Bridges only being six years old, we haven't had to say good-bye to very many people. A few weeks ago we celebrated the time we were able to enjoy working and serving with Michelle Daubenmire. Michelle and her husband Phil will soon be celebrating the birth of their first child and Michelle will be staying at home to care of the new baby.

We're extremely excited for Phil and Michelle and this new, exciting chapter of their life, but will definitely miss the commitment and dedication Michelle served our students and organization with. She did such a great job managing our Bridges to College program as well as our Project 30 mentoring program. She went out of her way to develop relationships with the high school students she served through BTC and did such a good job working with the mentors and schools and the craziness that came with trying to organize Project 30.

She will desperately be missed by our students, staff and everyone else connected to Bridges! But, we can't wait to see that new little Daubenmire and how awesome of a parent her and Phil are going to be!

Summer Slam 2011

This summer our Summer Slam theme is Health & Fitness. We have almost completed two weeks and the kids are beginning to adjust to all the exercising we're having them do! We have already had so many people and groups volunteer and donate time and finances to help us run this fun, yet educational program! We want to say a huge thanks to St. Vincent/St. Joe Health for donating $5,000 to Bridges to help fund Summer Slam. We have also partnered with their Project 18 program which utilizes curriculum to teach healthy habits to the students.



Additionally, we want to thank The Hayden Corporation for donating water bottles for our students to use during the summer. With all the exercise and activities we are doing with the students, the water bottles have helped keep them hydrated!


All the students are working hard, exercising for 30 minutes each day and participating in a sport twice a week! Additionally, the students have learned about the USDA's new "my plate" which has replaced the food pyramid. The students are logging the food each day on choosemyplate.gov which then shows them if they are eating the proper recommendations from each food group and analyzes their nutrient intake. Hopefully by the end of the summer we'll all be making healthier food choices! Of course, it's not a complete summer without our weekly field trips. We went to Raceway Fun Park for our first field trip.



A couple of our students are learning about nutrition by helping in our plot at the community garden. They are learning how to grow and take care of tomato plants and various herbs. We want to say a huge thank you to one of our Project 30 mentors, Joyce, who is also a Master Gardener, and is teaching the students the ins and outs of gardening!

BTC Spends Spring Break In Nashville

Last week we took 4 of our BTC students to Nashville, TN for Spring Break. A highlight of the week was spending 3 days serving at the Nashville Rescue Mission. Most of the students had never done any volunteer work before so it was an even greater eye-opening experience for them. We spent one day serving lunch to over 400 men, including homeless men and men in the Mission's program. The other two days were spent in the warehouse going through various donations. We sorted over 1,700 pairs of shoes, hundreds of cans of food, hundreds of clothes, and more! The students worked incredibly hard and had a blast volunteering. The students left their time at the Mission very humbled and grateful for what they have in Kokomo. They realized that at least they have shelter, food each day, and clean clothes which the men at the Mission would not have if it weren't for the services provided by the Mission.

In addition to volunteering we had a blast exploring Nashville. We toured the Country Music Hall of Fame and TN State Museum (which the students admitted was actually interesting and not boring like they originally thought)! We attended an NHL Predators game, which was by far one of our favorite events...there's nothing like seeing a fight in hockey! We toured a few historical sites downtown Nashville, experienced the Nashville Zoo, and basked in the warm weather at Centennial Park. On the way home we stopped at Mammoth Cave in KY, exploring the depths of the cave. It was an incredible experience.

Here are some pictures that help capture highlights from our trip...

Thanks Z92.5!

A big thank you to Z92.5 for letting us guest host with them over spring break two mornings. We had a blast! It helped us spread the vision of Bridges, promote Donkeyball on April 13th and catch up on all the celebrity news. They do a tremendous job of supporting everyone in Kokomo and building our community in a positive way! We are extremely grateful for your support!

DONKEYBALL coming back to Kokomo!

Bridges Outreach & The Crossing are hosting the 2011 Donkeyball basketball game. This year we have four teams competing for the Championship: Police, Fire, Kokomo-Schools & Community Churches.

The game is at 7 pm on Wed, April 13th at Kokomo High School (South Campus)

Tickets are $7 in advance & $9 at the gate (children 5 and under are free)

We are selling tickets at Jamies, YMCA and all three Community First Bank locations.

Come out and see some hilarious entertainment and support two great causes!

National Mentoring Month

January is National Mentoring Month! This month 5 different mentoring organizations in Kokomo (Project 30, New Leaf Mentoring, the Crossing School, Parent 2 Parent (KHS), and Book Buddies @ Head Start) came together to celebrate and promote mentoring. The mayor and the various mentoring organizations in Kokomo celebrated "Mentoring Day" in Kokomo on Tuesday, January 11th. Many people from the community came to learn about the urgent need for mentors and to see how they can get involved. You can watch the presentation at:
http://www.cityofkokomo.org
It runs about 4-5 times a day on KGOV (KGOV Video Streaming or Channel 2 locally)

In case you are yet unaware, there is a waiting list of over 300 students at the elementary, middle school, & high school level who are in need of a mentor. Bridges Outreach's mentoring program is called Project 30. If you are interested in mentoring please call us at 765.452.5723 and we'd be happy to tell you about the needs for our program and the other mentoring programs in town. Make a difference in the life of a child. Be A Mentor!