The Trivia Night fundraiser for Leelanau Investing for Teens (LIFT) at Hop Lot Thursday was a great success and a lot of fun. Debby and I and Kim and Dennis Armbruster were there from Omena. The LIFT program got its start 10 years ago in the home of current Executive Director Rebekah TenBrink and her husband Gerald to provide a place for teens to gather on weekends. LIFT became official in 2017 and moved into The Friendship Center in Suttons Bay, primarily as an after school program for Suttons Bay middle and high school students who could walk from the school.
They are now in all four Leelanau County public schools, with Leland being the most recent addition. They currently serve 640 students at no cost to the students. It began with $470 in 2017, and this past year received a $116,000 grant from Impact100 Traverse City. Some of the staff recently attended the Michigan Afterschool Association Conference in Detroit and were the only rural program there. We are very fortunate to have them in Leelanau County.
You can go to their website to learn more about their programs, to donate, and how to volunteer.
