The Colby Echo

Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Local News

Media Credit: Kathleen Maynard Through the Colby Volunteer Center and various education classes, Colby students spend hours volunteering at the Center.

Take a stroll downtown, turn onto Silver Street, take a left onto Gold Street, and soon you'll hit the South End Teen Center. If you arrive between 2 and 5:30 p.m. you'll probably see kids around: maybe four, maybe 29. They may be outside playing soccer or inside working on an art project, cooking, or doing homework during the daily "Homework Power Hour."

When I arrived at the South End Park, just down the hill from the Teen Center, to talk with Director Nancy Souza, I found her standing with 18-year-old Sam, who has been part of the Teen Center since its inception. How long has the Teen Center been around, I asked. "Oh, 'bout a million years," said Sam, laughing, before she clarified with, "'03 I believe. Most of my friends graduated last year though." Sam then wandered off to make a few calls.

"You can't get that girl away from her cell phone," Souza said with a chuckle. "I got her a membership to the fitness club, so sometimes she comes with me.... And there she is, lifting with cell phone in hand!"

Souza's passion for the center and the kids shines through very clearly. "Right now we have about seventy members, mostly junior high schoolers. Once they get into high school, schedules tend to fill up with sports, girlfriends or boyfriends and the ability to drive." On a daily basis, kids drop in to play board games, do art projects, participate in chef cook-offs, throw darts, do homework, or go to the park. The center primarily serves the South End, but oftentimes kids from Winslow or Waterville's North End will show up with friends. "Sometimes kids just show up for major events, and that's fine too."

Events run the spectrum from low-key movie nights to major excursions, such as their trip to see the Celtics last fall, which was sponsored by TD Banknorth. Funding for trips comes from donations as well as Boys and Girls Club and Alfond budgets. One major donor who grew up in the Sough End and now lives in Winslow helps fund "Summer Blast" trips throughout July, which include trips to Acadia, Splashtown, Canopy Lake State Park and other attractions.

Not all funding, however, comes from donations. Kids pull their weight by holding fundraisers such as the bike swap and bake sale that occurred last Friday and a carwash that will be held at Autozone this Sunday. In addition to fundraising, kids contribute by assisting with the annual Summer Neighborhood Festival and "National Night Out," which is scheduled for August 5. "The National Night Out event is meant to bring communities together and promote drug-prevention," said Souza. This year's festivities will include a basketball tournament, Battle of the Bands and a community barbeque.

Continued...

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