By now we have all recovered from the recent wind storm that took our fair city by surprise. It is really amazing to see the ripple effect of such an event. For many of us such inconveniences seldom occur, we take power, food, gas, travel, and doing business for granted. When such a storm or natural disaster occurs it becomes a great social equalizer. All of a sudden it doesn't matter where you live, what you do for a living, or how much you make.

At times like these I am reminded of just how lucky we are. Imagine those who deal with these struggles on a daily basis. Having to think about where the next meal is coming from, how to make the bills, will I have enough gas to get to work this week? Or for a lot of our kids, we face even worse things like; is mom going to be home when I get there, do I even know who my father is? Will I be accosted by some stranger on my way home from school. Did I even go to school today?

As you know these questions are real and they are faced by thousands of our kids right here in "possibility city" every day. On Thursday November 8th Youth Alive! (website) will celebrate its tenth anniversary of reclaiming the lives of kids who face these challenges every day. As a former board member and long supporter of this organization, I can tell you that it is needed and it works! The celebration event is at the Henry Clay Individual tickets are $100.00 each and can be purchased from Elizabeth Remmers at 423-9792 or Kenny Boyd at 608-7939.

I know that you get these kind of opportunities to give from everywhere, and every cause is important and takes money. But in this case, I can attest first hand that Youth Alive! give kids a real chance to break the cycle of violence, drugs, poverty, and sexual abuse. You see, when we allow these living conditions like these to thrive in our community it weakens all of us, and we pay a huge moral price if we stand by and do nothing.

Mark Stevens