Kids Plus members roll out the 2013 plan of events

At the Kids Plus Organization’s annual meeting in January the members discussed their upcoming yearly activities and elected their officers for this year.

Diana Sonnie was elected president, Curtis Hofrock vice president, Jordon Sukup secretary, Mary Kay Brauer treasurer and Cassie Challburg was elected director of the organization.

“Our board is comprised of approximately 15 board members that serve as volunteers,” said Brauer. “We are glad to have all the help that we can get.”

According to Brauer, Kids Plus has been serving Cheyenne County since the early ‘80s and functions as the Cheyenne County Family Preservation Team.

“We have the support of the county and our main focus when we started out was child abuse back in the ‘80s,” said the treasurer. “It’s just evolved over time. As the needs of the community change, our goals and mission statement change as long as it pertains to children and families.”

The Kids Plus mission statement was created by board members and states, “We are a collaborative community driven organization that provides protection, prevention and promotes family health, well-being and empowerment.”

Brauer said that the organization is vital to the community and provides children and families with activities throughout the year.

“This is important to maintain because it provides alternative activities for children and families in the community and the activities it creates for families are low in cost,” she said.

She explained that activities such as Rocktoberfest are only $2 and that the hay day is free to participants.

“All activities and events are designed to further our mission and help the children and families of Cheyenne County,” said board members.

Anyone is welcome to join the board and can do so by contacting Diana Sonnie at 254-3963 or Cassie Challburg at 249-0094, said Brauer. The board meets once a month.

“The majority of Kids Plus funding comes from local sources such as the Kids Plus Gala and the World’s Foremost bank (Cabela’s bank). Grant money contributes the final share,” according to board members.

Brauer said that the organization doesn’t just host many events for children and families, but also helps other organizations in the county trying to help children as well.

“We try and support and facilitate any organization that’s trying to do good things for the kids of Cheyenne County, like Cool Kids and CASA (court appointed special advocates)which are both under our umbrella. They report to us every month,” the treasurer said.

CASA is the newest program to come under Kids Plus and the board is happy to announce that three trained volunteers are already in the court system and helping the children assigned to them.

Kids Plus members also support the Cool Kids Club, No Limits school program. The program gives over 500 students a year resources and accessibility to events and cultural activities, according to board members.

“Cool Kids is a before and after school, as well as summer program for children. It is low cost and they have snacks and in summer they participate in the federal government’s summer feeding program,” said Brauer.

The treasurer said that the program not only offers extracurricular activities for the children but also it is mostly focused towards academics.

“All morning is designated to academics and the afternoon is where they go out in the summer to the swimming pool or the theater,” she said. “After school they have snacks and then homework and then fun activities, but the focus is on school and academics.”

Some other events hosted by Kids Plus members are Rocktoberfest, the Hay Days Festival, Kids Fitness Day, Creating Captains, Drug Take Back Day, and their annual Kids Plus Gala.

At Rocktoberfest over 600 seventh through 12th graders enjoy a DJ dance, two video game contests, sumo wrestling and raffles. The event continues until as late as midnight, according to Brauer.

The Hay Days Festival is a free penny carnival, with a costume contest included, which occurs in late October, said board members.

Kids Fitness Day is held by the Panhandle Health Department, a partner of Kids Plus, and is open to any third grader in the Panhandle.

All schools in the county can come participate and the event is held at the Cheyenne County Community Center, she said.

“They have 10 or 12 stations and it is done on a rotating basis that lasts all day long. They have things like a boot camp ran by highway patrolmen, a yoga station, a stair-stepper and nutrition station,” Brauer said.

A lunch is also provided at the center of donated subs from Subway.

Brauer said that the Creating Captains event in May includes a mini football day camp instructed by Nebraska football player Matt Davidson.

“We pay for Matt to come out here one day in the summer and he runs a mini football camp in addition to stressing how to be leaders and how to do community service,” she said. “It is an awesome experience.”

The program was founded based on four core values: character, courage, leadership and respect.

“Creating Captains uses sports as a foundation to engage youth, regardless of athletic ability, while addressing many of the social issues facing youth today,” said board members.

Drug Take Back Day occurs in October and includes community members properly disposing of their unused medications by bringing them in to certain locations. Designated drop-off sites in the past have been Western Drug, Wal-Mart and Safeway.

“The most important objectives of Drug Take Back Day is to keep prescription drugs out of the hands of children, raise awareness of the growing public health crisis and ensuring the safety of our elder population,” said board members. “Helping elders clean out their medicine cabinets can help prevent accidental overdoses and misappropriation of prescription drugs by personal care assistants or loved ones.”

The Teens in Prevention program is composed of the Cheyenne County Teen Council, which is comprised of youths eighth grade through twelfth grade.

“Kids Plus goal is to help in developing youth mature into responsible community members while giving their community their perspective,” said members of the board.

“We need teen members on our board to keep us informed of what teenagers need and want from us,” said Brauer. “They serve as functioning members on our board but they have their own board and they plan activities for the kids that are alcohol and drug free. They have held events such as dances, leadership conferences and they help us with Rocktoberfest.”

The teens also give out an annual Responsible Alcohol Management Award in the spring to a business that sell alcohol and seems to best meet the criteria and state regulations of selling their alcohol products.

Kids Plus members also hold service learning projects that change year-to-year that are available for any Cheyenne County youth organization to participate in.

The projects serve as community improvement projects and “provide an opportunity for youth to work together and see a positive outcome for their community,” said members of the board.

The Kids Plus board isalso holding its annual gala on May 3 at the Holiday Inn in Sidney.

“It’s a terrific meal and an evening of fun,” said Brauer.“There is a silent auction and a live auction with good prizes. We will be selling tickets and the more the merrier.”

Kids Plus members also distribute resources and information to Cheyenne County schools during Red Ribbon and Drug Fact week.

They also provide Cheyenne County Community Center Scholarships. These scholarships are youth activity scholarships provided to kids who cannot afford to participate in activities sponsored by the community center, according to board members.

They also collaborate with the Panhandle Prevention Coalition to provide free quarterly Responsible Beverage Server Training to Cheyenne County businesses, organizations and individuals.

Members of the Kids Plus board participate in the spring expo, Taste of Sidney and the health fair to provide information about their prevention efforts to Cheyenne County residents.