Mentors Plus picnic featured games, good food, and exotic animals

The importance of making a difference in a young person’s life was celebrated recently at the Oakland County Youth Assistance 2017 Mentors Plus Annual Picnic at the Pontiac-Waterford Elks Lodge, #810.

The good weather brought out a lot of people to share great food, do beading and woodcrafts, play volley ball, throw water balloons, and participate in lots of other board and outdoor games. Matches were also entertained by Dan Briere and his exotic animals. Many people were brave enough to touch an 8 foot long python, a bearded dragon, and a chameleon. Sandra Asmar’s face painting, Grant Smith’s chili cook-off, and Thad Bogert’s parachute games all contributed to a terrific time had by everyone.

The mission of Oakland County Youth Assistance is to strengthen youth and families and prevent and reduce delinquency, abuse and neglect through volunteer involvement. Each of the organization’s mentors agrees to spend a minimum of one hour a week with a young person, who could use some extra support from their community. The annual picnic is just one of the many opportunities offered each year for fun with other mentors and their matches.

Thanks go to the Pontiac-Waterford Elks Lodge, #810 for providing the picnic shelter, the 2nd Degree Team of volunteers (who helped with set-up and clean-up), and Dave and Tom – the barbeque wizards, who helped tremendously throughout the day. The Elks Lodge Ladies Klub assisted with buying give-aways and school supplies that were made available to mentees. The Oakland County Credit Union and Genisys Credit Union provided the primary funding for the event. Costco, Sam’s Club, and Kroger also contributed food and drinks. The wooden craft kits came from Home Depot. Other Youth Assistance staff, mentors, and mentees gave donations and/or contributed to making the day spectacular too.

Those interested in becoming a mentor are asked to call Mentors Plus at 248-858-0041 to volunteer. Orientations are open to the public and held monthly. Residents can join in making a positive difference in a young person’s life. For additional information, visit www.oakgov.com/YA/mentorsplus.