Kent Youth & Family Services Celebrates 40th Anniversary with "Passport to Italy" Dinner & Live Auction

KENT, WA, September 25, 2010 (Press-News.org) This month Kent Youth & Family Services (KYFS) marks its 40th anniversary of providing community services to a diverse population of children, youth, and their families in Kent, Covington, and South King County. Mary and Brooks Loop and other concerned individuals created the Kent-based nonprofit on September 21, 1970. It has developed from a small operation to an expansive, well-respected agency with an annual budget of over $3.9 million and serving 4,000 children and youth in 2009.

In partnership with King County, the cities of Kent and Covington, and Kent School District, KYFS has developed a wide range of culturally-sensitive and innovative programs to address tough family issues including substance abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, teen pregnancy, and more. Addressing these topics, the agency's core programs include: professional counseling, HottShotts job training, Head Start, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), substance abuse treatment and prevention, afterschool programs, Outreach and Lighthouse, and Watson Manor.

On October 2, KYFS will celebrate its mission of "Working Toward a Better Future" despite many cultural challenges and economic obstacles through the years. Having lead the agency since 1999, Executive Director Mike Heinisch is optimistic that KYFS will continue its legacy well beyond the agency's 40th anniversary.

"Kent, Covington, the Kent School District communities, and surrounding South King County have a true treasure in Kent Youth & Family Services and the invaluable resource it has become," Heinisch said.

"The impact KYFS has made on the lives of over tens of thousands of children, youth and families over these 40 years is truly stunning to contemplate," he added. "The whole community has benefitted from a handful of visionaries who acted on the simple idea of helping kids in Kent. Forty years later their vision has made our community a better place for all families, through the legacy they gave us."

Kent Youth & Family Services will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Saturday, October 2 during its largest fundraiser of the year. This year's event - Passport to Italy - will toast this milestone at the new Kent Events Center (10120 SE 260th St., Kent, WA). The event will include a social hour, silent and live auction, dinner and program. In addition to being a fundraiser, KYFS hopes to reunite past staff and clients, to share in the history of the agency's growth and to look forward to a successful future. For more information about Passport to Italy, or to buy tickets online, please visit http://www.kyfs.org.

For more information about Kent Youth & Family Services, contact Executive Director, Mike Heinisch, at 253-859-0300, ext. 3002.

Kent Youth and Family Services provides professional
counseling, education and support services to children, youth and their families in our community, developing innovative programs that meet the evolving challenges of our diverse community in culturally sensitive ways.

Our goal is to empower youth and their families to meet their needs while being committed and responsible to the citizens of the Kent and Covington communities.

The staff of Kent Youth and Family Services has been dedicated to providing services for children and their families for 40 years.