It's no secret that after-school programs play an important role in the lives of young people. These programs provide a safe and productive environment for students to engage in various activities, learn new skills, and build relationships with their peers.

So far, for the month of January, we're proud to have an average attendance of 25 students per day. These students are active and engaged in a variety of activities, including arts and crafts, board games, six flags up football, and playing active games on the Nintendo Switch.

Our program also provides completely free after-school meals and snacks for students. Studies have proven that students who have access to reduced-price or free school lunches do better on test scores, and so our goal is to provide meals for those students who may miss out on lunch while at school. And, as we all know, teenagers are hungry! We love to serve our youth in this capacity by providing free meals and snacks to them.

What sets our after-school program apart is that it is completely free, thanks to the generosity of our community. We believe that every student deserves access to quality after-school programming, regardless of their financial situation. By operating on donations from the community, we're able to make our program accessible to as many students as possible, and help ensure that no one is left behind.

With the support of our community, we're able to provide students with a safe, productive, and fun environment to learn and grow. We provide a lot for our students, but that also means we require support to keep our program going. Food (especially snack items) and monetary donations are two ways for people to help support our program. We also are in need of volunteers! If you want to make an impact on a student's life, then our after-school program is where you need to be.

We'll be back next month with another big update! The Salvation Army Tehachapi Community Center is located at 538 E Tehachapi Blvd, Tehachapi and can be found on Instagram and Facebook.