The Big Announcement

     I am coming up on two years on the job here at Joel's Place.  It was a little shocking for me to realize, but it was just about this time of year in 2012 that I received an e-mail saying the Joel's Place was starting a search for a new Executive Director.  From the beginning I consistently heard the Board of Director's talking about the cost of skating and their desires that we would be able to offer our services free of charge.  They talked about their dreams of kids being able to come through Joel's Place to eat and play and learn no matter how much money they had in their pockets.  It was a dream, but it was a good dream and we just needed to figure out a way to have that happen.

Fast forward two years:

   

     It is my great pleasure to announce that Joel's Place will be completely free for riding this coming May, June, July and August.  We will not need to charge for memberships or ride sessions thanks to the generosity of ConocoPhillips and the Fred Meyer Foundation.  We figured out how much earned income we tend to generate in a month and determined what that money goes towards paying.  Then we figured out that if someone donated $5,000 we could cover those expenses for one month allowing us to offer the same services without charging our families.  Conoco is covering May.  Fred Meyer's is covering June-August. I am hoping to find other foundations or businesses that will cover other months, but for right now we have the entire summer taken care of.

     Everyone around Joel's Place is really excited.  We are excited about more kids coming this summer and bringing their friends.  We are excited that there are organizations out there that look at what we do and say it is worth supporting.  One of my key volunteers teared up when I told her the news and told me that this kind of partnership validated all of the work that she does for us.

     I hope that you will join with us in our excitement.  The youth that come through these doors are worth every penny.  They are loud.  They break things.  They take things that do not belong to them.  They express affection by throwing things at each other.  And...they are precious treasure, capable of incredible acts of kindness, generosity, compassion, leadership and strength.  They are undiscovered riches that only require a small investment in order to become young men and women who will lead the next generation with vision and hope and joy.  Thank you for your generosity, your support and your desire to see young lives transformed.

Free skating is here!  Let the celebration begin!