From staff reports
On July 31, several buses were loaded up with 129 Venango County youths as they said goodbye to their families for a week. These children were headed to the highly anticipated yearly Youth Alternatives’ Children’s Camp. Youth were accompanied by 31 adult counselors, all volunteers, and 16 junior counselors to Camp Beaumont in Rock Creek, Ohio, where they had the opportunity to experience zip-lining, canoeing, archery, swimming, arts and crafts, a rock climbing wall and more for seven days.
Youth Alternatives is a local non-profit that provides an array of services to improve the lives of children around the county at no cost to families, and this summer camp was no exception. Youth Alternatives is able to provide these types of trips for free to local youth through donations from the communities in which they reside. Every year, local individuals, businesses and private clubs come together to help Youth Alternatives raise the funds to ensure that all of Venango County youths have the chance at an amazing summer experience. Due to camp costs being $210 per youth, Youth Alternatives would not be able to provide this experience to local youths without the contributions they receive.
One business wanted to ensure that every child attending Children’s Camp had a new, clean pillow to lay their heads on at night during their trip. Not only did they provide the pillows, they, along with assistance from local volunteers, hand-crafted more than 200 colorful, kid-centric pillowcases for the kids.
Youth Alternatives has two locations, Oil City and Franklin, and offers various services to local school-age children, free of charge. Its centers are open from to noon to 6 p.m. in the summer and from 3 to 6 p.m. during the school year. Children have access to homework assistance, a warm and nutritious snack, computers, game systems, board games, pool tables, STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Math — based activities plus opportunities to go on skating, fishing and movie outings.
