‘Cowboy up for Youth’

MOSES LAKE — “Cowboy Up for Youth” will be the theme of Youth Dynamics’ annual dinner and auction Oct. 19. 

The auctions in the past haven’t really had themes, said YD Director Sean Sallis, just allusions to the organization’s outdoor youth adventures. 

“We did ‘The Mountains are Calling’ one year and ‘River’s Edge’ last year,” he said. “But this year, we just thought, let’s do something different, think outside the box. So people can come and dress up and participate if they want.” 

Youth Dynamics is a non-sectarian Christian ministry that reaches out to teens across the Northwest, with locations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, as well as a couple in western Montana. The Moses Lake location is at 106 E. Third Ave. and has free games, activities and a safe, non-threatening space where kids can hang out and socialize, according to its website. The group also takes young people on outdoor adventures like hiking, paddleboarding and kayaking. 

The Oct. 19 event will be held at the Grant County Fairgrounds in the Commercial Building, with a silent auction, a prime rib dinner catered by Top Gun Concessions & Catering, a dessert dash, a live auction conducted by Chuck Yarbro Auctioneers and lots of good fellowship, Sallis said. 

Auction items will include a welded sculpture, a week-long trip to Arizona and a Bob Ross Christmas party hosted by Youth Dynamics with painting and a tater dog dinner. 

This year’s goal is $60,000, Sallis said, and according to the YD Auction web page, that’s been about 10% met already. The bulk of the funds raised, about $34,000, will go to support the organization’s programs and activities. 

“We don’t charge the kids to be (at the building), Sallis said. “They just come, and we feed them really good meals, and it’s free for them.” 

Youth Dynamics owns the building it occupies, Sallis added, so there’s no mortgage or rent to pay. Internet service, which any teen organization will use a lot of, is donated by Grant County PowerNet.  

Another $10,000 will go to scholarships for outdoor adventure trips, Sallis said. 

“The trips that we take them on, there are kids who can’t afford it,” he said. “So those scholarships help us get those kids out on those trips for really low cost.” 

The other $16,000 is earmarked for improvements to the Youth Dynamics building, and Sallis said there are a lot of those in the works. One of the building’s two HVAC systems failed as soon as it was put in and needs to be replaced. The large loft space above the basketball court is going to be renovated and put to good use with a homework study area and a podcast room. 

“We’re looking at building a podcast room so we can interview kids, start a Spotify channel, and the kids can talk about life and struggles in school and whatever is going on,” Sallis said. “Then kids can log in and listen to that online. It’s just kind of a cool way for kids to speak to their peers through a media outlet.” 

The upstairs area will also contain what Sallis called an adventure closet, with outdoor equipment like ski gear and rafting clothes for kids to borrow when they go on a Youth Dynamics adventure. 

“If kids can’t afford to go on a river trip, they’re probably going to have a hard time affording the gear for that trip,” Sallis said. “They can check that stuff out of the closet, and we’ll wash it, dry it and put it back for the next group of kids to use.”  

A washer and dryer are also on the list of things Youth Dynamics wants to add to its facility. 

“It’s so we can have availability to help kids with their clothes, so they can have clean clothes for school if they’re not able to get that done in their home,” Sallis said. “They’re not going to tell you that, but there are kids who are in need of those things.” 

Above all, Youth Dynamics aims to be a place where teens can go to get their social and spiritual needs met. 

“As a relational youth ministry in the community, we see a lot of kids benefiting from what we’re doing,” Sallis said. “(Going on) multi-day trips, building those long-term relationships with the kids. We had 55 kids at the kickoff (Oct. 7) and they all were just excited to be there … They were so happy about that space, and it just makes it their home.” 

Event details:

Oct. 19

Grant County Fairgrounds
3953 Airway Drive NE, Moses Lake.
Doors open: 5:30 p.m. for silent auction
Dinner and event: 7 p.m. 

Tickets: https://bit.ly/4eXARA4

    Guests at a previous Youth Dynamics auction look over silent auction items. This year’s event is Oct. 19.
  

    Children hang out and listen to a speaker at Youth Dynamics’ building in Moses Lake. This year’s benefit auction Oct. 19 will fund renovations to the building to give youth even more activities and support.