Today, fish is on the menu.
Youth for Christ (YFC) Morden is hosting its annual fish fry, which is offering up delicious food to support its mission of coming alongside youth in the community.
Helping youth in the community
Reilly Smith, the ministries director at YFC Morden, says the event has corporate sponsors, which allows all the proceeds from the meal to go directly to the organization.
It makes a big impact on the large body of programming YFC provides to the community, including different age-group drop-ins, special nights for girls and guys, after school gym drop-in programs, and ongoing mentorship initiatives that help young people with basic life skills.
“That's where the rubber really hits the road,” says Smith. “We [help] kids do everything from getting a job to [doing] their homework to ... getting birth certificates to figuring out how to get their license.”
What’s the best part of working with youth?
For Smith, who has been with YFC in for over six years now, the best part of working with youth is the conversations that he gets to have with them.
“It's so fun sitting down with a teen and being able to have a real conversation about where life is at five minutes into it,” he says. “I always struggle with shooting the breeze with adults. You don't have to worry about shooting the breeze very much with teens — you just get into the nitty gritty of life right away.”
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Esther Schwartzkopf, a volunteer with YFC who is involved with the after-school program in the gym, agrees.
“I think as a youth, you're vulnerable, and you're going through so many changes and sometimes you just need somebody to talk to,” she says.
The details
The fish fry to support Morden's youth takes place from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Christian Life Centre in Morden (605 1st Street) and will feature a takeout line as well as an eat-in line.
The meal is by donation.
Click here to learn more about YFC Morden.
With files from Ty Hildebrand and Jayme Giesbrecht