(BRAZIL) – A recently announced Chaplain’s Fund is already being expanded this holiday season at the Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch to help fulfill increased spiritual, clothing, and hygiene needs of at-risk teen visitors.
“Decades of experience in other states and at Indiana sheriffs’ local leadership camps tell us many kids arrive in need of uplifting and devotional materials as well as shoes, socks, and basic toiletries,” said former Marion County Sheriff John Layton, ISYR president. “Our safe, socially distanced opening this year of the Youth Ranch reinforced our need to establish more partnerships with faith leaders and retailers to quickly and quietly fill the teens’ needs.”
Indiana’s new non-profit Youth Ranch is a permanent, statewide home for free field trips, day visits and overnights for future law enforcement officers, at-risk kids, young witnesses and victims of crime, Grant County Sheriff and ISYR Secretary Reggie Nevels said. Teens selected by their local sheriffs, deputies and educators are eligible for free daytime and overnight visits until the Youth Ranch is fully developed with cabins. Then, teens will enjoy weeklong leadership academies each summer through donations of Indiana residents and community leaders.
“Many of the kids we need to mentor and bond with come from lower-income and lower-middle-income neighborhoods. Youth Ranch leaders nationwide can tell stories of kids arriving wanting a New Testament of their own, wearing improperly fitting shoes and needing toothbrushes and toothpaste,” said Putnam County Sheriff Scott Stockton, an ISYR vice president. “Our Chaplain’s Fund is being expanded, so we can compassionately and respectfully fulfill these needs as soon as they’re identified by adult chaperones and trainers.”
Layton, Nevels, and Stockton serve as volunteers and officers at Indiana’s not-for-profit Youth Ranch. Other officers include Allen County Sheriff David Gladieux, treasurer; and Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, a vice president. Other board members are Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers, Boone County Sheriff Mike Nielsen, Clay County Sheriff Paul Harden, La Porte County Sheriff John Boyd, and Ripley County Sheriff Jeff Cumberworth.
To make a tax-deductible donation or to learn more, write to Chaplain’s Fund, c/o Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch, 5325 N. State Road 59, Brazil, IN 47834.
