Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Forest Lake Times issues challenge
Final Draft by Cliff Buchan
http://forestlaketimes.com/content/view/382/35/
Extreme measures to help teen center by Jennifer Larson
http://forestlaketimes.com/content/view/378/1/
Cliff & Jennifer, Thanks for the GREAT reporting and support!
http://forestlaketimes.com/content/view/382/35/
Extreme measures to help teen center by Jennifer Larson
http://forestlaketimes.com/content/view/378/1/
Cliff & Jennifer, Thanks for the GREAT reporting and support!
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2008
Mayor goes to “Extremes” to save Teen Center
Local politician camps out in cold to raise money
Wyoming, MN - Mayor Sheldon Anderson vows to stay outside in the freezing cold until he can guarantee teenagers
in Wyoming and surrounding cities will have a place to go inside after school.
Anderson will camp out on the roof of the Wyoming City Hall until he raises $35,000. All the proceeds will go
toward keeping the financially strapped Forest Lake Teen Center open and operating. The five-year-old center is
a free, supervised, drop-in facility that provides educational and enrichment programs for middle school students.
“It may be crazy,” said Anderson about what he’s calling an Extreme Fundraiser. “But what’s really crazy is shutting
down a center that has a proven track record of keeping kids out of trouble and on the right track.”
Anderson will begin his camp-out on Saturday, February 2nd at 12 noon at the Wyoming City Hall (located at
26885 Forest Blvd., Wyoming, MN 55092). City Maintenance workers will pitch his tent on Friday, February 1st.
According to the National Weather Service, these dates fall within the time frame of Minnesota’s most extreme
winter weather conditions.
Anderson, who will update the public daily on his fundraising blog, http://www.extremefundraising.blogspot.com/,
hopes the freezing temperatures will encourage people to donate quickly to the center, which currently cannot
keep up with operating costs. At least $20,000 is needed annually to run the center weekdays all year long. It
relies solely on grants and donations since it does not charge a participation fee.
The City of Wyoming and Wyoming Township stepped in and saved the center last summer with donations totaling
nearly $10,000. Anderson recently asked city council members from surrounding communities to help keep it
open this school year and next. But he’s now resorting to this extreme fundraising effort.
“When I was a kid, I needed a place like this,” said Anderson, who dropped out of high school in the 11th grade. “I
want to make sure other kids have the opportunity I didn’t.”
FOREST LAKE TEEN CENTER FACTS
-Opened in 2002
-Operated by Forest Lake Schools Community Education Youth Development Program
-Serves 7th-9th graders between the hours of 2:15 and 5:30 pm Monday - Friday
Note: Justice Department statistics show the hours from 3pm-6pm are prime times for problems if kids are unsupervised
and unengaged in organized activities.
January 30, 2008
Mayor goes to “Extremes” to save Teen Center
Local politician camps out in cold to raise money
Wyoming, MN - Mayor Sheldon Anderson vows to stay outside in the freezing cold until he can guarantee teenagers
in Wyoming and surrounding cities will have a place to go inside after school.
Anderson will camp out on the roof of the Wyoming City Hall until he raises $35,000. All the proceeds will go
toward keeping the financially strapped Forest Lake Teen Center open and operating. The five-year-old center is
a free, supervised, drop-in facility that provides educational and enrichment programs for middle school students.
“It may be crazy,” said Anderson about what he’s calling an Extreme Fundraiser. “But what’s really crazy is shutting
down a center that has a proven track record of keeping kids out of trouble and on the right track.”
Anderson will begin his camp-out on Saturday, February 2nd at 12 noon at the Wyoming City Hall (located at
26885 Forest Blvd., Wyoming, MN 55092). City Maintenance workers will pitch his tent on Friday, February 1st.
According to the National Weather Service, these dates fall within the time frame of Minnesota’s most extreme
winter weather conditions.
Anderson, who will update the public daily on his fundraising blog, http://www.extremefundraising.blogspot.com/,
hopes the freezing temperatures will encourage people to donate quickly to the center, which currently cannot
keep up with operating costs. At least $20,000 is needed annually to run the center weekdays all year long. It
relies solely on grants and donations since it does not charge a participation fee.
The City of Wyoming and Wyoming Township stepped in and saved the center last summer with donations totaling
nearly $10,000. Anderson recently asked city council members from surrounding communities to help keep it
open this school year and next. But he’s now resorting to this extreme fundraising effort.
“When I was a kid, I needed a place like this,” said Anderson, who dropped out of high school in the 11th grade. “I
want to make sure other kids have the opportunity I didn’t.”
FOREST LAKE TEEN CENTER FACTS
-Opened in 2002
-Operated by Forest Lake Schools Community Education Youth Development Program
-Serves 7th-9th graders between the hours of 2:15 and 5:30 pm Monday - Friday
Note: Justice Department statistics show the hours from 3pm-6pm are prime times for problems if kids are unsupervised
and unengaged in organized activities.
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