Tickets go on sale today for an event to benefit the diversion of youth from the juvenile justice and child welfare systems and strengthen families in a five county radius.
Midwest Youth Service’s annual Doll-i-Day fundraiser has a special sleepover appeal this year. Youth Programs Supervisor Kayla Reno says it’s a fun way to help youth and families in Brown, Cass, Schuyler, Scott and Morgan counties: “When we selected a theme, Pajama Jam was kind of a given when we were talking about all the different themes that we could do. It was a no-brainer. Doll-I-Day is a fundraiser we do annually. We are a grant and donation-based organization as far as our services. Doll-I-Days is our one big fundraiser for the year. Every year we change the theme. Our efforts are to raise as much money as we can to go towards our services.”
Reno says that Midwest Youth’s building is currently gotten too small to house all the programs that they offer. She says that the need for their services are also increasing: “We need to expand everything. As we’ve expanded into our current building, there is more staff and more and more kids coming to us in need. We’ve now outgrown our building. We have a couple of offices where people are two and three people in an office. We just need more space – more counseling space, more shelter space, all of it.”
Midwest Youth Services opened the only overnight support shelter for youth ages 14-18 in the area in 2021. The Porch Light Project is on the lower level and has a separate entrance, staircase and remodeled facilities that houses approximately 12 youth at a time. Overnight stays average between 2-4 nights at a time on a case-by-case basis. The staff at MYS work with approximately 300 youth and families a year and 200 or more of them are 18 years or younger. For the expansion, MYS is hoping to raise $300,000 to complete a 2,500 square-foot expansion to the west of their current building on West Lafayette Avenue.
The fundraiser will be held on February 18th from 1-4pm at Cured Catering, formerly known as the McClelland Dining Hall at 438 East College Avenue. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased at Midwest Youth Services on West Lafayette Avenue or at Hy-Vee.
Attendees can wear their pajamas, bring a favorite stuffed animal, get their hair and nails done, enjoy DJ Troy Armstrong, eat pizza and cupcakes and more.
For more information about the Doll-i-Day Pajama Jam, call (217)-245-6000 during business hours Monday-Friday.
If you are unable to attend, tax-deductible donations can be made to Midwest Youth Services, 2001 W. Lafayette Ave., Jacksonville, IL 62650. For more information about their services, check their website at www.mys-kids.org.