“God bless us, every one!” ~ Tiny Tim
Wednesday, December 21st, YLA hosted the 2nd Annual “Christmas Social” at “A Safe Place to Land” on Water Street, in Henderson!
We were blessed to have Santa Eric, our students, and our amazing team of Marines, Mentors, and staff along with us to host our 4th Annual Keep ‘Em Warm Sleeping Bag/Blanket campaign! Our graduates, assisted by Santa and our team, handed out hot cocoa, water, and 40 blankets to those in need.
We always say, “they always come back!” We were so happy to see Jacob Mulligan, the featured face on our SNDP wall! Jacob is now serving in the National GUARD and in college to be a Police Officer! The YLA family adores his entire family: Bill, Katie, and Nancy Mulligan!
And we had a few other long-time past grads with us, too. Magnus Yuen and Nitza Santander attended! We absolutely love that they were with us again!
We ate dinner together, “family style,” and shared our hopes, worries and solutions.
Pastor Equilla Hicks with Lift One Up gave 25 gift cards to all in the Secret Santa game! Thank you so much for your generosity! They loved the game!
We ended with the students creating an ornament with their favorite accomplishment they achieved at YLA and what they hoped to accomplish in 2023. We hung them on our Student Tree.
At the end of the night, each person left with an empty jar to be filled with the positive things that happen to them each week. They are to fill every Sunday in 2023, a gentle reminder to be grateful!
Next year, we will read them together to see and REMEMBER ALL that WE truly have to be grateful for.
Thank you to all the students and parents who attended! And thank you to all who donated blankets and came to this GIVING event! We loved having you at A Safe Place to Land!
YLA and SNDP LOVES to be of service to others! Thank you for being a part of it! Our Core Values: Honesty. Respect. Peace. Kindness. Humility.
And a tremendous “THANK YOU” to our program sponsors: AC Pro, Gene Haas Foundation, and Master Mechanical.
Thank you to Santa Eric for bringing the Christmas spirit to us and blessing us and others with your presence! We just love SANTA!
A huge shout-out to our Board of Directors and our Advisory and committee members for assisting us with the social! We couldn’t do it without you: Sam Miklosko, Equilla Hicks, Ssgt. Bricen Hooker, Luis Silva, Bascom, Coby Sherlock, Jane Sherlock, Sheree Cain-Jones, Blossom K Tavares & Frank Tavares, Ashley Curtiss, and support staff Ligaya Lee!
And thank you to all of our YLA family and friends. Your support means so much! Merry Christmas, everyone!