An local organization dedicated to improving the lives of Jennings County youth is seeking their input on what their needs are and how to meet them.
The Jennings County Youth Foundation is conducting a symposium from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday in the Jennings County Middle School Library, 820 W. Walnut St. in North Vernon.
The symposium is free, and breakfast and lunch will be provided. The guest speaker will be former school administrator and athletics coach Kendall Wildey.
“We do not want to be the ones who decide what the youth of Jennings County need. We want to hear from the youth themselves, their parents and all the organizations that are dedicated to helping the youth of this county,” Jennings County Youth Foundation Board member Kelly Hatton said.
Based on a successful program last year in Bartholomew County, the goal of the youth symposium is to bring everybody together to identify the needs of the Jennings County youth and to coordinate the resolution of those needs with the assets of the county’s youth-serving organizations, she added.
“In order to have a positive impact on the future of Jennings County youth, there must first be a collaborative effort by the whole community. The Jennings County Youth Foundation’s job is to help raise and coordinate community resources to provide good, quality activities and programs for the county’s youth. But first, we have to know what the needs are and then we can help to coordinate the efforts of different service agencies to provide for those needs,” Hatton said.
Preregistration is preferred. To register go online at jcyf.in/calendar.php or call 812-718-2088.
