LIFT Youth Center Inc. will be holding the grand opening of the Claudia Nance Rollins Youth Center on Aug. 7, from 4-8 p.m. The Claudia Nance Rollins Youth Center is at 7197 Nashville St. in Ringgold.
The evening will be an event open to the whole community to get to a first-hand look at LIFT and learn more about plans for the Youth Center’s start-up semester.
At the grand opening there will be live music from Ringgold High School and Heritage High School bands, activities, and games, LIFT art to make at the craft station, information on the Youth Center, and opportunity to support LIFT financially in numerous ways.
LIFT staff, students and volunteers will be available to meet, talk about LIFT’s programming, and give tours of the center. Staff will also be offering help with the enrollment process so students can be all set to join after the first day of school.
August also kicks off a month-long annual giving campaign for LIFT Youth Center Inc. to help reach the goal of $100,000. All food items purchased at the event will donate a percentage back and LIFT will have merchandise for purchase that directly supports LIFT. Guests may sign up to become a monthly donor or donate that evening. All donations are tax deductible.
Tina Pinkston, LIFT’s executive director, said, “It means so much to our students to see their community step up in financial support of something designed to benefit them directly. Quite often they feel only negative responses to their generation, but when we get behind an idea like this, it brings them hope and pride; it inspires them to live into their potential. They hear, ‘you are important, worthy, and a valuable part of our society.’”
The grand opening comes just before the start of the upcoming school year. The afterschool program will launch Monday, Aug. 9.
After school drop-in hours for Catoosa County 6th-12th graders is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 3-6 p.m. and Wednesday from 2:30-6 p.m.
Specialized program times for 5th graders will also be offered beginning in the spring semester.
LIFT Youth Center Inc will follow the Catoosa County Schools Calendar and Emergency Closings. Programming offered during these hours is free to all enrolled students and will fall into areas of R.E.A.C.H – recreation, education, art, community, and health.
LIFT Youth Center Inc was founded as a nonprofit in 2018. The past few years LIFT staff, Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and Volunteers spent countless hours working diligently to create a firm foundation for the center to become a fixture in the community. In the spring of 2020, it held the ribbon cutting for the Claudia Nance Rollins Youth Center. The facility has been named in honor of the primary funding family. Over the course of this summer, LIFT held three events a week, enrolled over 125 students for the 21-22 school year, worked on leadership skills and team building with LIFT Student Leadership, and trained and screened over 35 adult volunteers.
“The summer has been a window into what the fall will look like," said Chrissie Brown, LIFT's Marketing and Fund Development director. "It has been incredibly heartwarming to see students who have attended summer events become invested in LIFT, even before we officially open our doors."
Visit www.LIFT-ringgold.today to stay in the loop, to get involved, to get connected, or to give financially.