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Youth Services

ECKAN

East Central Kansas Economic

Opportunity Corporation

Helping People Changing Lives

Michele Hafer

Youth Services Director

mhafer@eckan.org

 

ECKAN has two Youth Services programs called the “Breakfast Buddy Program” and the “Supper Buddy Program”.  In these community-based programs ECKAN matches successfully screened adults with “at risk” elementary school students.  Once the same sex adult and student are matched, then the initial mentoring process will take place at assorted restaurants.  The volunteers of the programs either volunteer to eat breakfast or supper with a child, one time per week, for one hour, for a minimum of six months.  The number of restaurants participating in each program is dependent on the location of each county the program resides in.  Each restaurant owner has committed to pay for the cost of the child’s meal.  The volunteer pays for his or her own meal.

 

ECKAN has a third Youth Services program called the “Ottawa Youth Project”.  This program is comparable to a big brothers/big sisters type program.  Primarily ECKAN enlists collage age students as volunteers; however individuals, as well as, married couples are also utilized.  These volunteers mentor a child for a minimum of one year.  Each month the mentor and the child meet a minimum of three times.  The meetings last a minimum of two to fours hours per meeting.  During those meetings the pair participates in activities that both the mentor and the child enjoy.  Meetings are community-based and take place any where within the community.

 

Monthly social and recreational activities are sponsored by ECKAN to improve the children’s overall social and behavioral functioning.  Most programs no longer continue to offer the diversity of children’s activities that ECKAN continues to provide.  Those activities have consisted of trips to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Exploration Place, Kansas Museum of History, Kansas City Zoo, Worlds of Fun, skating and swimming parties, and assorted professional and collegiate athletic events.

Upcoming Events

 

Partnerships

 

Coffey County

Across The Borders

Pizza Hut

Sonic

South 75 Lanes

Subway

Luther’s Rest. & Store

 

Franklin County

Applebees

Burger King

Dairy Queen

El Mezcal

McDonalds

Old 56 Family Rest.

Pizza Hut

Pizza Time

Poncho’s

Simple Simon Pizza

Sirloin Stockade

Smokey’s BBQ & Café

Sonic

Subway

Taco Bell

Windmill Café

 

Osage County

Breck’s Green Acres

Buzzard’s Pizza

Deli Station

El Mezcal

Green Acres Pizza & Subs

Jade Garden

Lamont Hill

Marilynn’s Place

Pizza Hut

Sonic

Subway