Benefit Fayetteville Youth With Center Fundraiser

SEFCC Hosts 2nd Annual Celebrate Our Kids Banquet

In every town there is a generation of children looking for a source of productive, safe and low-cost entertainment. Thanks to government and community cooperation, these places became reality with the opening of city community centers.

Fayetteville is no exception.

The Yvonne Richardson Center was constructed in 1995 at the cost of $371,200, consisting primarily of a gymnasium with basketball courts, a conference room, a computer room and an office. They hold daily events geared towards Fayetteville’s youth like after school programs, summer camps, and just providing a safe place to hang out and play basketball.

The Southeast Fayetteville Community Center (SEFCC) Board, made up of 11 community members, will be holding its annual Celebrate Our Kids Banquet and Silent Auction on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Fayetteville Town Center. Social time begins at 6 p.m. with the dinner and program following at 7 p.m.

This is the second year for the event, and this year’s theme is “An Evening with the Three Big Shots,” highlighting guest speakers Charles Balentine, U.S. Reed, and Scottie Thurman. Nolan Richardson, for whose daughter the center is named, is also set to be a special guest.

The Yvonne Richardson Community Center was opened in 1996 after the Southeast Fayetteville Community Center Board formed with the intent of creating a safe space for young people to be able to go in order to stay off the streets and out of trouble. Seventeen years later, the support of the community and city has kept the center alive and working on its mission.

Tickets for the event are $50 with all proceeds benefiting the programs and needs of the Yvonne Richardson Community Center. If you would like to purchase tickets for the event, they are available at the Center, which is located at 240 E. Rock St. in Fayetteville. For more information on the event or how you can help in other ways, please call 444-3461. This event is also spotlighted in a segment with SEFCC Board President Nancy Allen on The Government Channel’s series The Mayor’s Corner, which is accessible on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRHDSeBXSZU.