ST. CLOUD -- You have the opportunity to help homeless youth in the St. Cloud metro area. "Pathways 4 Youth" opened in the "Youth for Christ" building at 203 Cooper Avenue North in St. Cloud in May of last year.

They offer young people a food and clothing pantry, a nightly hot meal, shower and laundry services, a case worker and a doctor.

Sherri Sutch is the Director of Community Engagement. She says there are three ways you as a community member can help...

One is a donations team and that is a group of people that come in on a Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. until noon and help sort through the items the community does bring in.  We have a meals team, and what that means is we're looking for restaurants or people with the ability to cook in a commercial kitchen to prepare a meal.  We serve a meal every single night.  And, volunteer mentoring is another area.

They are looking for donations to their food pantry. Pop tarts and pudding cups are the most popular because they're easily portable.

She says it's not a place for kids to just come and hang out.

They are going to sign a community agreement, which just means you're going to do your part and we're going to do our part.  We're here to help and we want to support you, but we want to see you take steps and set some goals.

Pathways 4 Youth helps them in four key areas; prevention, outreach, completing their education or help them get a job, and find stable housing.

Pathways 4 Youth is open Monday through Thursday from 2:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

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