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This month we are proud to introduce 2017’s first Charity of the Quarter, Northern Colorado Youth for Christ.

We are pleased to support NCYFC as Lori & Mark have volunteered and supported them for the past 8 years.

Since we last partnered with NCYFC, one of their outreaches, The Refuge, has seen exciting changes! The Refuge is a local skate park devoted to bring positive influences and a family friendly environment to local youth.

This past October, The Refuge expanded into an adjacent warehouse, doubling in size. As well as the skate park, a skate shop was added with awesome swag. It’s convenient for skaters to have service right where they skate. The old skate park transitioned into Turn Around Bikes, who are helping our community in new ways. We will highlight them in the next couple months.

Many skate parks are unsupervised or have bad reputations. Kids who come to The Refuge quickly learn that this skate park, in their own words, “is different.” Ryan, the director of NCYFC, says over a dozen volunteers consistently come around to help teach kids how to skate and supervise the park’s fun frivolity. The Refuge also recruits local high school students to be student leaders for the youth who come and skate.

The Refuge is also unique because it encourages kids from disenfranchised situations and home lives to use the skate park. It accepts them wholly, providing hope and a home base for those who may feel hopeless or homeless.

Hundreds of kids who have come through their doors the last several years are positively influenced at the park. Even when staff cannot see positive changes in a youth’s life at the time, kids from 5-10 years ago stop by, with lives changed, because of The Refuge.

Enjoy a few photos of the new skate park:

The Refuge is FREE on Friday nights. The skate time is split into 2 sessions. Youth, 13 & under, skate time is 4:30-6:30 PM. Youth, over 13, skate time is 7:30 - 9:30 PM. Parents are welcome.

Skate lessons are available on Tuesdays. Visit coloradorefuge.com for details and pricing.

You can also help our youth! For every referral we receive, we will donate to NCYFC. The referred person does not have to purchase a policy for the donation to count. Thank you for helping. Visit www.unioncolonyins.com/refer for more information.