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September 8, 2023
Lakehills Community Center receives grant to expand youth programs
By Ron Clarke
Lakehills Community Center
The Lakehills Community Center was awarded a $10,000 Family Support and Youth Development grant by The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, that will support expansion and enhance activities for Bandera County area families.
“We appreciate the opportunity to compete and be selected to receive this grant to enhance our family and youth support programs. This is the first time Lakehills Community Center has participated in The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country grant process. The grant will ensure all participants have a realistic, hands-on experience during family activity night,” Community Center Board Member Susan Junker said.
Currently, the Activity Night is held about 10 times each year. With this grant, the 2024 program will expand to provide a toolbox and tools earned by participating in multiple sessions. Some new topics include model rockets, hydraulics, wooden trucks, drones, lasers, magnetic levitation, flight, and DC motors, all of which are designed to help in stimulating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) within the local community among other learning projects. The grant will allow the program to expand into a different age group altogether as previous activities were privately funded.
The Lakehills Community Center Family Activity Night has proven to be quite popular.
“We certainly thank the Community Foundation of the Hill Country for this terrific opportunity for us to expand our youth services. The Community Center has in the past had many events focused on retirees, senior citizens, and younger children. This grant will allow us to further that service opportunity to gain experience and stimulate an interest in both the parents and a new age group that we haven’t yet engaged consistently. We are currently asking middle school and high school aged students what they would like to see in our program. With that feedback we can develop programs that they themselves helped design, while at the same time continuing to enhance and provide programs for our elementary-aged students and the residents as well. It’s great to have our family program recognized and to be able to move forward with enhanced programs that focus on learning and having fun simultaneously for all age groups,” Program Leader Kelly Beedle said.
The Lakehills Community Center is an all-volunteer organization, and its board and staff are volunteers who donate of their time and talent. Additional family events, which are all supported by community volunteers, include a Valentine’s Day for our seniors, Easter and Christmas parties for children and an annual Ice Cream social.
For a full calendar of events, visit the Community Center Website at www.lakehillscommunitycenter.org or their Facebook page. If you are interested in volunteering, your talents are valuable. Please call 830-460-0400 or visit the VOLUNTEER tab of the website.
“We appreciate the opportunity to compete and be selected to receive this grant to enhance our family and youth support programs. This is the first time Lakehills Community Center has participated in The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country grant process. The grant will ensure all participants have a realistic, hands-on experience during family activity night,” Community Center Board Member Susan Junker said.
Currently, the Activity Night is held about 10 times each year. With this grant, the 2024 program will expand to provide a toolbox and tools earned by participating in multiple sessions. Some new topics include model rockets, hydraulics, wooden trucks, drones, lasers, magnetic levitation, flight, and DC motors, all of which are designed to help in stimulating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) within the local community among other learning projects. The grant will allow the program to expand into a different age group altogether as previous activities were privately funded.
The Lakehills Community Center Family Activity Night has proven to be quite popular.
“We certainly thank the Community Foundation of the Hill Country for this terrific opportunity for us to expand our youth services. The Community Center has in the past had many events focused on retirees, senior citizens, and younger children. This grant will allow us to further that service opportunity to gain experience and stimulate an interest in both the parents and a new age group that we haven’t yet engaged consistently. We are currently asking middle school and high school aged students what they would like to see in our program. With that feedback we can develop programs that they themselves helped design, while at the same time continuing to enhance and provide programs for our elementary-aged students and the residents as well. It’s great to have our family program recognized and to be able to move forward with enhanced programs that focus on learning and having fun simultaneously for all age groups,” Program Leader Kelly Beedle said.
The Lakehills Community Center is an all-volunteer organization, and its board and staff are volunteers who donate of their time and talent. Additional family events, which are all supported by community volunteers, include a Valentine’s Day for our seniors, Easter and Christmas parties for children and an annual Ice Cream social.
For a full calendar of events, visit the Community Center Website at www.lakehillscommunitycenter.org or their Facebook page. If you are interested in volunteering, your talents are valuable. Please call 830-460-0400 or visit the VOLUNTEER tab of the website.