Youth Fun Fair a huge success in West Sacramento

by Michael Minnick
Coordinator, West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition

More than 200 people came out to Bryte Park in West Sacramento on May 17 for the West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition’s first Youth Fun Fair. The event combined information and activities by local agencies and businesses that support youth with exciting games for young people and their families.

The outreach portion of the event included booths run by many organizations that provide social services, job opportunities, mentoring and leadership training. This combination of nonprofit organizations, businesses, and city and county agencies gave youth attendees a well-rounded look at opportunities available to them in and around the West Sacramento community.

The Youth Fun Fair included several large-scale games for attendees to enjoy. A rock climbing wall, Velcro wall and inflatable joust game were all very popular with the youth. The most popular, due to the 100+ degree temperatures, was the Splash Burst, where participants were able to get soaking wet by way of water balloons supplied by West Sacramento Parks & Recreation Department. In addition, the West Sacramento Fire Department deviated from their fire safety activities for a short time to turn on the fire hose, allowing kids to run through the water.

The Youth Fun Fair was created through discussions among the youth group Sactown Heroes. The West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition, the umbrella group of the Sactown Heroes, had been organizing this event for several months. Youth volunteers were instrumental in the decision-making process throughout the organizing and implementation stages of the event. Other projects coordinated by the Sactown Heroes and WSYRC include a Community Beautification Project and Youth Leadership Academy, which provides opportunities for personal growth for the youth of West Sacramento.

The West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition is a REACH Community Action coalition.