By Annette Hinkle
For the last 14 years, the YARD program has provided Sag Harbor’s teens a place to go after school where they can do homework, play games or just socialize with their peers. YARD (which stands for Youth Advocacy Resource Development) also offers a “Safe Summer Beach Program” with students ages 12 to 18 descending on Long Beach three nights a week to enjoy entertainment and activities in a supervised environment.
Since the non-profit’s founding, director Debbie Skinner has worked diligently to keep kids occupied and happy. The after school program, in particular, has come to play an important role in the community. Offered in the Pierson cafeteria, the program provides a safe place for kids to spend downtime after school before their activities begin or parents get home from work.
“It gives them an option,” explains Richard Kudlak, president of YARD’s board. “The after school program is a safe haven — a place for kids to go between sports or play practice — where they’re taken care of.”
And being taken care of, by all indications, is vital. Research has shown that kids who are left on their own between 3 and 6 p.m. are particularly vulnerable. According to a 2009 report prepared by Nancy Lynnott of Southampton Town’s Youth Bureau, 35 percent of 12 year olds are left alone regularly while their parents are at work.
“Being unsupervised after school,” she notes, “doubles the risk of an eighth grader smoking, drinking or abusing drugs.”
But with state and local governments facing tough financial times, high on the “hit list” is funding for youth programs. YARD is not immune. While some local municipalities and the school district still support YARD, gone is $10,000 New York State provided to the program each year, as well as $5,000 from East Hampton. And though Suffolk County still supports the program, its dollar amount has been reduced.
While Skinner is seeking ways to collaborate with other youth organizations to lower costs and has cut back on special bus trips and activity rentals, the need for YARD hasn’t gone away.
“With what’s going on in the economy, more parents have to be working,” says Kudlak. “You need a place for kids to go after school — that’s why you can’t cut the program.”
Which is why Friends of Yard was formed a year ago.
“Friends of YARD was established to fundraise for the group,” explains Kudlak, a Friends member. “With the cuts all the municipalities have seen, we’re doing a little more fundraising to provide services we want.”
Friends of YARD is looking to raise $30,000 to $35,000 (YARD’s annual budget is now $60,000 — down from $86,000) and on Friday, February 10, will host a “HarborFrost Gala Celebration,” its first annual fundraiser at Page @ 63 Main in Sag Harbor from 7 to 10 p.m. The adult night out includes dinner-by-the-bite, music and dancing, auctions, raffles and drink specials.
While in the past, YARD hosted October fundraisers, Friends of Yard feels that the celebratory nature of HarborFrost (which debuted last year) offers a great opportunity to tap into the community that benefits most from the program.
“A lot of local people will be out and we know there are a lot of parents who feel strongly about YARD,” says Kudlak. “Even parents whose kids are in elementary school, they will use YARD in coming years, so it behooves them to come out and support it.”
Tickets for the “HarborFrost Gala Celebration” are $25 ($30 at the door), available at The Wharf Shop and Sag Harbor Liquors. Tickets are also available by calling 725-5302 ext. 750, or emailing YARDdirector@aol.com.
Above: Kids playing basketball by the bay during YARD's "Safe Summer Beach" program in 2007. (Michael Heller photo)
on Feb 1, 2012