The following letter is one of many that have been received by Jeff McLean and Linda Headly on their heart felt trek across the Midwest in search of funds, ideas and support from our community to start a youth center in Raton. They have trekked over 1000k miles to date! In just four more days they reach their goal location of Cincinnati, OH! They walked and ran over 20 miles a day enduring shin splints, bleeding blisters, miniature ponies, dog and cat, local friend and foe. All wondering over Jeff and Linda’s wanderings, for the sake of creating a safe space outside of school hours for the children of Raton.
“I’ve been a member of this community for about seventeen years. I am a concerned senior of Raton High School, and I have written to you to discuss the need/want for a youth center. I believe that a youth center could help the younger population of Raton stay away from a lot of future problems such as, drugs, alcohol, theft, and/or violence.
When I look at Raton, I see drug problems, violence, abuse, and many abandoned buildings. The center would need to have seventh through twelfth grade students in order to allow them to transition into adulthood in a better manner than the previous people before them.
The use of a youth center could help reduce the drug problem many students face day in and day out. The time spent at the youth center could help keep the young people out of trouble. The young population would then be busy and wouldn’t have the urge to steal or cause any type of mayhem. Parents of the students should have to put in their own volunteer hours, so that way there would be no need to worry about not enough help.
With students and parents participating, the youth center program wouldn’t have to worry about shutting down.”
Read the perspectives of other students in their own words here: https://ziayouth.org/1204-miles-for-youth/f/we-heard-from-some-raton-high-school-seniors?fbclid=IwAR1hPFVF1lhF-5LmpnZ17WD3Hgay6icQQvbaPLo2F-eCyejlVMrvkY2ZQLg
It’s amazing to hear from our students and encouraging to see them get involved for the betterment of fellow students and their community. Thank you Zia Youth, thank you Jeff and Linda for your ideas, your love of community and the opportunity to follow you as you accomplish this phase of your goal. Be safe and we will see you soon…
Follow their steps and blog posts here: http://www.facebook.com/ziayouth
Website: https://ziayouth.org/
