Our numbers are in...

Hello Curious people!

If you are someone who saw the "Cheap Seats" broadcast on COGECO channel 04 last week, please read on and find out more about us. 

After that, call me, Rene Schmidt at 613-885-1100 if you want more information or,

Email me at rene@qyfc.com or,

visit us at The Beacon 10 Alice St. Unit # 5, Brighton (Beside the China King restaurant)

between 11:00-1:00 school days and 7:00 - 9:00 pm Tuesdays to Fridays    

New Hours! Lots of Teen Visits!

God is good!  We recently had six more volunteers join us and now The Beacon is open more days to benefit our teens in Brighton.

We are now open Mondays* through Fridays for lunch (11:00 am - 1:00 pm) and we have increased our evening drop-in days to four nights a week:  Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (7:00 - 9:00 pm)
*Mondays from 11:00 - 12:00 (ENSS lunchtimes) we discuss spiritual matters on topical Christian issues for any teens who want to attend.  Elementary students continue on Mondays with the usual pool games, loud music and fun.       

SURPRISING NUMBERS!

Thanks to the time spent number-crunching by our Loyalist College student placement, Sarah Shutt-Kampstra, we have new and surprising statistics on attendance figures.

So how many students actually visited The Beacon this year?
Sarah found that from September 2015 to March we had 1286 visits from East Northumberland Secondary School teens and 544 from Brighton Public School students. Our evenings saw 250 students visit. That is a total of 2080 times teens have been welcomed to The Beacon for our own special blend of snacks, games, music and fun!  Extending those numbers, we can project we will have a total of +/- 3000 visits by the end of June)

So how many students are regular visitors?
 Of 99 secondary school students who visited The Beacon since September, 31 are regulars (visited 10 or more times) 11 were one-timers (visited just once) and 57 visited between 2 and 9 times.  Of the 49 elementary school students listed, 15 are regulars, 3 are one-timers and 31 are some-timers (between 2 and 9 times).  In the evenings, of 32 students, 6 came more than 10 times, 11 came just once and fifteen teens came occasionally.      

So are the numbers going up or down?
The totals for each month show that in September we had a low of 231 visits and in February and March we were averaging just under 300 students. Those numbers are fairly steady. Total visits for each month also depend on weather, school holidays, bus cancellations and such.

How many volunteers have you got?  
We just welcomed seven more volunteers;  Sean, Barbara, Sharron, Jesse, Lorraine, Ryan and Andrea. All but Sean and Ryan are retirees. These people join eighteen other regular or back-up volunteers.

What else is new to The Beacon?
We just elected a new Satellite Committee and these good people help me set long-term goals and deal with the growth and changes we are undergoing. Our Chairperson is Chuck Acker,  Vice-Chair is Elinor Joyce, Treasurer is David Green, Secretary is Ernie Alkenbrack.  We also have a Youth Representative (Koby M. and Matt M. as his back-up).  Other members are Pastor Glenn Halliwell, Jim Snyder and myself, Rene Schmidt.

How can I donate to The Beacon?  
We depend completely on donations to exist. You can give regularly or make a one-time gift. Please make cheques payable to Quinte Youth Unlimited, our parent organization, who does our accounting and issues income tax receipts. Make a note on the cheque that the donations are for The Beacon youth centre and the money will go to our ministry.  Send any cheques or offerings to Quinte YFC P.O. Box 233, Belleville ON K8N-5A2

Why do you need to belong to a parent organization?
Good question!  The Beacon does not have charitable status or even a bank account. Quinte Youth Unlimited / Youth For Christ has these and also provides training, resources, fund-raising opportunities and guidance from the Executive Director Colin Leaver, as well as organized trips for our teens and many other benefits.  I couldn't do this job properly without their support.

How much money goes to The Beacon if I donate? 
Of every $100 donated, about $92.00 will go to The Beacon to pay rent or goes for my support.

Don't you work for free?
No. I have earned a decent pension, but I can't afford to do this ministry for free. I work part-time hours (roughly 3 days a week) and earn $6 000 a year to pay for gasoline, my cell-phone and my time.

How can I help?
We always need people to help in various ways. The teens are well-behaved and polite at The Beacon (or we ask them to leave) so being around them as a volunteer is fairly stress-free.

What if I don't feel comfortable around teenagers?
You're not alone!  But you can help by attending a fundraiser on June 16th.  It is a dinner theatre, called The Butler Did It, performed by QYFC's Spirit Borne teen actors.  It is coming to Trenton Christian School and Brighton YFC and Quinte West YFC are co-hosting it.  It will be a great way to have fun and support a good cause. Invite your best girl or guy out on a date and you will be helping teens, getting a delicious catered meal, and being entertained at the same time.