So much good is put into region

I want to thank the students of Sierra Osage and Sears Youth Center for their contributions Thursday to our annual Difference Makers banquet.

Assistant Editor Samantha Tucker and I had an opportunity to tour the campuses on a recent, extremely rainy day.

If you aren’t aware of what the programs do, it’s worth taking some time to visit with them.

The staff there work to create a healthy environment for youthful offenders to learn and grow. The students live, learn and work together, building new skills that staff know can set them on the right path when they go home and help them stay there.

“They’re not bad kids, they’re great kids who made some mistakes, as all kids do, and wound up with us through the court system,” Curtis Vaughn, assistant regional administrator, shared with us during the tour, which included Reps. Darrell Atchison and Hardy Billington.

Counseling includes meeting with advocates, bringing in relatives for family counseling sessions and group counseling with other students in the program. Vaughn is regularly amazed at the strength he sees youth exhibit by opening up about their past, traumas and choices.

“It’s hard, so these ladies and these young men are gutsy,” he said.

When we met with the groups on Aug. 9, we shared a little about our upcoming Difference Makers banquet and extended an invitation.

The messages we would share that night were ones the staff wanted their students to hear.

Our Difference Makers include 10 people who have stepped up in our area with selflessness and generosity to give back and make our worlds better. It also includes people who have overcome many hardships and turned their focus to helping others do the same.

I’m grateful to the staff of Sears and Sierra Osage for organizing things so quickly and wanting to bring all of their current students to the banquet.

I’m also grateful to the students, who made by hand gifts that were used Thursday as door prizes and items given to each finalist.

The Sears students provided two flags the youth made to be given as door prizes.

Sierra Osage provided two crocheted blankets, and also painted Difference Maker images for each of the finalists with the finalists’ names.

I know these are items that will be treasured by their recipients.

Thank you again to the staff and students at these youth centers, and to everyone who helps support this event each year. I truly believe it puts so much good back into our region.

Donna Farley is the editor of the Daily American Republic. She can be reached at dfarley@darnews.com.