In July 2009 Pastor Dave and Sara Derickson accompanied the following kids to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona:  Nathan Billings, Dagmar Derickson, Kaytee Greenaway, Jane Hunt, Joshua & Becky McCoid, Amber Petersen & Sean Rutherford. They spent their days working with Navajo kids and doing house painting.  There were also evening activities for the kids designed to give them insight into the lives and culture of the Navajo people.

Mystery Trip:

In mid-June Pastor Dave, Pamela Billings, Sara Derickson and Paige Rutherford took 11 kids on a “Mystery Trip.”  We headed north on the 101 and stopped in Soledad to reveal the destination… San Francisco! One group biked across the Golden Gate Bridge, while another group explored Fisherman’s Wharf, taking in the always entertaining sea lions on Pier 39, the Aquarium of the Bay, Ripley’s Believe It or Not and lots of shopping. We ended the day with ice cream at Ghiradelli Square. It was a long day but overall a great trip!

Winter Wonderland was a lot of fun and a very successful fundraiser as well. The youth raised almost $500 selling hot chocolate, coffee and baked goods at Atascadero’s big winter event. We offer our thanks to our generous donors of supplies and baked goods:  Colby Jack Café, Spencer’s Fresh Markets, Debbie Rennegarbe, Ron Sarrade and an anonymous donor of hot chocolate mix! Thanks also go to Dennis Derickson who came up with the idea and procured and set up all the equipment we needed. You should see this man pack a Suburban! We hope to repeat our success at the Sunken Gardens Flea Market in April.  More info on that later.

Also in December, the youth hosted a babysitting night at the church. The youth made the kids a hot dog supper and played games with them while parents took a break. They all had a great time and the youth earned about $130 in freewill donations. Thank you to the generous parents who took advantage of the service!

The Youth Team meets on the third Monday of the month at 6:30pm.  All youth and their parents are encouraged to come to the meeting to help plan events, fundraisers and service projects.