The best stories, the best legends, have four things going for it.
A Battle- a hardship or enemy that must be overcome, something to lose that’s
WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
Sacrifice- The battle must be hard.
No legends were made by winning an easy battle
Heroes- Brave souls that are willing to risk everything and enter the battle, because their cause is WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
Victory – The cause is won! The enemy is vanquished! And the story of triumph endures
Nearly sixteen years ago, a group of teenagers in Fairbanks had lost something worth fighting for.
The place where they gathered to stay safe, to dream, to build relationships and to worship God had been taken away.
They needed a hero, someone that would help them rebuild what they lost and dream about building something more.
They found their heroes in each other, in their families, and in Mike and Linda Setterberg.
The “something more” that they built was Joel’s Place.
It was the prize that was fought and sacrificed for. A prize to be enjoyed and endure, to be passed on to the next group of teenagers needing a safe place to dream, build, create, and grow.
I believe that Joel’s Place was and still is WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
Today, our enemy is misunderstanding.
Believing that Joel’s Place is just a skate park, and kids can just go somewhere else to have fun. Not realizing how many families depend on Joel’s Place for their kids to be safe after school, to be fed, to get homework help, and to experience success.
Today, our enemy is apathy.
The hardship it creates is taking Joel’s Place for granted, and expecting that it will just always be here to serve kids in need.
Without some heroes to fight with us, Joel’s Place can’t stand.
We can’t stand under the weight of increasing expenses and lower giving. We can’t stand under the increasing competition of worthy non-profits who are fighting for the same grant money.
We can only stand as part of a community that makes young people a top priority.
So now, I ask you to stand with us. To take your turn at being a hero to a kid that is bored, hungry, lonely, and needing a place to belong.
We are looking for 500 heroes to donate $50 a month to keep Joel’s Place standing.
Some can do more, some can do less, but if everyone who believes that Joel’s Place is worth fighting for, does SOMETHING, we will win.
For one week, starting Monday, the 21st, all new recurring donations will receive a one-time match from Global Giving.
Please be as generous as you can, even if it means sacrificing an extra trip to the movies, or Starbucks.
Now is the right time to band together. It’s not someone else’s responsibility.
It’s OUR responsibility and privilege to stand up for youth in Fairbanks.
Be a hero, join our cause, make the sacrifice.
Be legendary.
This summer has been phenomenal!
We had about 200 kids come through Joel’s Place to play games, skate, bike, scooter, go to concerts, do community service and so much more.
The success we experienced this summer was possible through the cooperation and collaboration of our many community partners. I’d like to highlight some of the impact these partnerships have made the past 3 months.
Food Service Program: Our partnership with the Boys &Girls Club, Literacy Council and The Fairbanks Community Food Bank made it possible to serve an average of 500 meals and snacks per week throughout the community!
Random People Who Care: A group of volunteers committed to service projects every Monday throughout the summer. They coordinated with agencies, churches and individuals in need of assistance to bring groups of young people to serve in the community. We had 21 young people serve in different projects such as planting our garden, painting some of the nursery and children's rooms at Bethel church, cleaning a neglected section of Birch Hill cemetery, helping a widow with yard work and doing basically whatever was asked of them.
At the end of the summer, the youth were treated to an unforgettable day of horseback riding and zip-lining at Dry Creek Community!
Bone Builder Backpacks: Throughout the summer, we provided 178 kids with healthy snacks and easy to prepare meals for the weekend. This major effort came together through the efforts of the Fairbanks Community Food Bank, who collected and stored the food for us over the spring, to The Landing Church, who collected enough healthy food each week to keep the backpacks filled, to Fairbanks Resource Agency who provided the volunteers each week to pack the bags to some individual volunteers who faithfully loaded their vehicles with boxes upon boxes of food and took them to The Salvation Army, Birch Park Summer Program, Joel's Place, and Christ is The Answer Church for distribution. And finally, Spirit of Alaska Credit Union who, along with The Landing Church, provided school backpacks for each child in the program!
Skate The Park: On August 30th, we held the (hopefully) First Annual Skate The Park event at Pioneer Park. over 200 people came out and joined the Joel's Place Ride Team, the Fairbanks Rollergirls and Jr. Derby, and a university-affiliated sportsing team, that can not be named. This was the brainchild of Glenner Anderson from KWLF, who allowed us to tag along and turn it into a fundraiser and outreach for Joel's Place. It didn't rain, there were only 2 injuries and tons of families made donations and had a blast skating the park!
The youth at Joel’s Place see that our community cares about them and is willing to invest in them. They are given opportunities to give back. It’s a win-win.
We are so incredibly grateful for our community partnerships, for the volunteers and donors who help us keep the doors open and help keep Joel’s Place rolling!
