Family Picnic!

June 5, 2014

Join us on Wednesday, June 11th at 6:30 for our annual Family Picnic! The whole family is invited and you don’t have to bring anything but yourselves! We will be cooking burgers and hot dogs and will provide lots of other food including an icecream sunday bar! There will be games of parents versus teens and then the parents will have an informational meeting while all the teens and younger children go play kickball.

If you have a child going into 7th grade in the fall up through 12th grade, or know of someone who does, please invite them or join us for the picnic! Incoming 7th graders are invited to participate in ALL our summer activities so we don’t want them to miss out on the information!

Parents will be given information on the summer schedule and upcoming fall plans, including a printed calendar. New waver/info forms will be given to parents to fill out to update our records, and a list of ways to get involved will be provided.

Teens have dinner and games with Coach Hand and PSU football players…

June 5, 2014

When Coach Hand spoke at our fundraising banquet in April about success versus significance, we never imagined how much significance he would have on our youth center. Yesterday, Coach Hand brought out 8 PSU O-Line football player to serve dinner to the teens and to hang out with them. Weis Markets donated the food for the evening, which consisted of bbq grilled chicken, corn on the cob, baked beans, and potato salad. Two chefs from the Penn Stater donated their time to come out and cook, and brought with them Creamery Icecream for desert!

After the amazing food was devoured, minute-to-win-it type games were played in which we put players versus students in wacky fun games. The evening ended with a group picture, and lots of teens taking “selfies” with the players and coach.

Thank you, Coach Hand, for your continuing support of the Penns Valley Youth Center! We are so grateful!

2nd Annual Fundraising Banquet

April 20, 2014

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Our 2nd Annual Fundraising Banquet on April 3 was a HUGE success! The night began with hors d’ oeuvres and a silent auction. The items for the silent auction were donated from businesses and individuals in Penns Valley and State College. Dinner began with a delicious meal catered by Hoag’s Catering and a testimony from Cassidy Brown, a teenager who has attended the youth center for three years. She wowed and moved the crowd with how much the center has meant to her. As dinner wound down, Mike Dillard ran an amazing live auction of handmade quilts, a fishing trip, NFL football tickets, and so much more. The auction brought in over $8,000!

Our special guest speaker was PSU Offensive Line Coach Herb Hand! He implored the audience to chose to live a life of significance instead of success and to support organizations like ours who are making a difference in people’s lives. At the end of the night Coach Hand auctioned off a brunch for the highest bidder and their family which he would provide and cook himself! Not only was that awesome, but then he threw in 2 tickets to a home Penn State football game!

The evening ended with our Director, Darren Narber, asking the audience to come a long side the youth center to support us financially or by volunteering for different opportunities. Our whole fundraising campaign brought in over $42,000! Thank you to all those who made donations and/or attended the banquet! It is because of people like you that we are able to continue to change the lives of teenagers in our community!

Special thanks to our sponsors!

Christmas Gift Workshop

December 20, 2013

Who doesn’t love a homemade Christmas gift? As a part of our workshop program at the center, we held a Christmas Gift Workshop. There were stations set up in different rooms where the teens made cookie ingredient jars, chocolate covered pretzels, cookies, ornaments, and much more. Barb Bebin brought out her wreath clamp and showed teens how to make a fresh greens wreath complete with bow and ornaments. Teens took crazy pictures at our photo station and made ginger bread houses.

Many teens come from struggling families and this was an opportunity for them to be able to give their families presents at no cost. They did an amazing job! Check out our Facebook page to see pictures from this event!

Grange Fair Dodgeball

August 30, 2013

If you are from Central PA then you know all about the Grange Fair that is held every year in Centre Hall. This year, we hosted a game of Dodgeball at the basketball courts on the fairgrounds! Teens and staff passed out fliers throughout the week inviting youth who were attending the fair to our Tuesday evening game. Hundreds of people showed up! Youth of all ages came out to play, from elementary to high school age. Game after game was played until the winning team was crowned…well, received 5 pies of pizza as their prize!

Each night of the fair, a different youth organization hosts a game at the basketball courts in an effort to minimize fights and disruptive behavior that had been typically seen at the courts. This was our first year participating and we are looking forward to next year!

ServeCamp 2013

August 19, 2013

Did you see any teens in teal shirts around Penns Valley last week? We held our second annual PV ServeCamp during the first week of August. It was an amazing week of teens giving back to the community and serving others! With so many other options of how the students could be spending their last bit of summer, it was great to see thirteen of them choose to be a part of our camp!

The days were spend doing community service projects around the valley such as painting at the Soldiers and Sailors Pool, weeding and mulching at the home of one of our teens, weeding at the Centre Hall library, and spreading mulch around the playground at the Old Gregg School Community and Recreation Center in Spring Mills. We were up bright and early to head out to the job sites and didn’t return until late afternoon.

In the evenings, there was swimming, singing, guest speakers, lots of food, and bonfires! (Just to name a few!) All in all, it was a really awesome time for the teens and the leaders. We can’t wait for next year!

We have a new program at the center!

March 5, 2013

Aside from the After-School Program we will now be having weekly workshops for students to sign up and participate in! This new program is to give students a fun and hands-on way of developing life skills that can benefit them as they complete their time in high school and move on to a career and life after graduation. We want to engage students in areas that interest and motivate them to learn and mature into the leaders of tomorrow in our community. Our first workshop, Basic Automotive Maintenance was held in February. The workshops will be scheduled on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday from 4:00pm to 6:00pm and is free to teenagers.

Our next Workshop is “Cooking with Marcie Lynch of the Passionate Palate!” It will be help on Wednesday, April 17th from 4:00pm to 6:oopm. There are only 10 spots available so students will want to sign up quickly! She will be hosting another class in May if you aren’t able to make the April class.

Future workshops include Basic Art, Drama, Music, Cooking, Gardening, and many more!

Our workshop schedule will constantly be changing so make sure to check out the Workshops page for specific details about what workshops are available, when, and how to sign up!

Interested in teaching a workshop? Contact Us!

New Study Room Added to the Center!

February 28, 2013

Do you need a quiet space to study or to work on homework? Are you easily distracted from your work when you are being tutored? We now have a separate study room that has been renovated just for you! The youth center has expanded from one room to two and the new room has been upgraded to give a quiet, comfortable space for teenagers to study and work on homework with out the distractions of the students playing games or music. There are tables for students to work with tutors and computer workstations for individual work.

Looking for a way to get involved? We can use certified tutors in any variety of subject and are also in need of items such as calculators and school supplies. Contact us for more information or if you are able to help.

1st Annual Fundraising Banquet

February 22, 2013

An Opportunity to Invest in Our Community

Join us on Thursday evening, April 4th at the Old Gregg Community Center for an opportunity to help the Penns Valley Youth Center invest in our future leaders, one student at a time.

We are very excited to welcome Penn State Football Coach Larry Johnson, Sr. as our special guest speaker. He will share about the importance of community-driven support for youth. The meal will be catered by Hoag’s Catering at 6:30pm. Come out early for Hors d’oeuvres, and a Live and Silent Auction at 5:45pm.

Interested in being a business sponsor for the banquet? For a $500 donation you will receive advertising during the event, listing for one year and a link on our website, and up to 8 seats for the event!

There will be an opportunity to financially partner with the Penns Valley Youth Center at the conclusion of the event. All gifts will be tax-deductible!

In order for this event and ultimately the Penns Valley Youth Center to be successful, we need support of
the community and businesses like yours. Please consider taking part in this event and help us keep our
community growing stronger. Please support our efforts to better our community and build the next generation of leaders!

And the winner is….

February 4, 2013

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 1st Annual Art Show and Open Mic Night! It was a huge success with over 30 pieces of artwork displayed and many teens and adults who took a turn performing in the Open Mic room.

Check out the photo gallery from the event on our Facebook page.

Congratulations to our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place artshow winners (pictured from left to right)….

1st Place: Megan Hughes-Drawing

2nd Place: Amy Norton-Photography

3rd Place: Cierra Shawver-Painting