Derrick Miller
DUNCAN — In the story “Jack and the Beanstalk,” beans had magical powers, which took the titular character to a new place. For the Stephens County Youth Shelter, the beans’ magical powers may once again help to transport the shelter to another location.
Heritage Oaks Church of the Nazarene held a bean dinner Feb. 25, as a fundraiser for Stephens County Youth Services. The funds will go toward building the new youth shelter.
Through the fundraiser, the church was able to raise $2,500 to donate to the youth shelter campaign. Daryl Brown, pastor, estimated more than 400 people attended the bean dinner.
The goal of the project is to raise $1 million to build a new youth shelter. If things go according to plan, the new shelter will be built by December 2012.
Jason Hicks, campaign chairman, said the campaign has gotten off to a good start and the Stephens County community is demonstrating how generous it can be.
“We’ve had a really good response,” Hicks said. “Things are moving along well. We’re all really pleased.”
The current youth shelter first became a shelter in 1979. But with the age of the building and an array of codes required since that time, Youth Services of Stephens County board members began to look into the idea of building a new building instead of trying to fix the building in use. The campaign for the new shelter officially began in January, but donations had already been made, including the land for the shelter, which was donated toward the end of 2008.
Brown said it’s been several years since the church has done a bean dinner to raise funds for such a project, but it’s something he wants to bring back at least a couple times a year.
He said the dinner benefited the youth shelter campaign in several ways. While the obvious reason for the event was to raise funds for the campaign, it has the bonus effect of informing people about the project.
Barbra Davis, shelter director, said several people representing the campaign were in attendance to talk about the proposed new shelter.
Hicks said the church did a lunch and dinner for the event to give people a couple of chances to eat at the church. This also gave the people involved with the campaign a chance to reach out to more people.
The next planned fundraiser will be a formal dinner April 8.
Dr. John Cauthon, who is doing his part for the campaign, said he was excited to raise the money for the campaign. Cauthon said he was appreciative of the people who have already helped out.
“Things are really going well,” Cauthon said.
— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.
