TEENS: If you're in high school and want to help BGM with our FriendRaiser powerpoint presentations - WE NEED YOU! Contact Mrs. A at 616-514-1248 and let her know. We'll train you and you'll always have other teens and adult support there with you! You'll also earn BridgeBucks for your service! Help BGM get U your TEEN SPACE - for high schoolers ONLY!!!
NEW TEEN ORIENTATION PROGRAM: Our focus is Makin' It Right (restoration) and we do that by Goin' F.A.R. (Forgiveness, Accountability & Respect). Developed by local teens, the orientation program is required for membership into The Bridge of West Michigan, the facility that Bridge the Gap Ministries is building for local teens.
PSA VIDEOS:BGM Teens collaborated with the Wyoming Community Youth Coalition Youth At-Large Board and created the following videos that address underage drinking. The teen partying video speaks the truth about how many teens in Kent County, MI really drink. The parent-focused video speaks about parental influence and whether or not it really matters...RETHINK THE DRINK(TM)!!
Subscribeto BGM's YouTube site @ http://www.youtube.com/user/bgmNorthAmericaand get notification of our latest video posts immediately. Check out our "office spoof" vids while you're there!
BUILD IT! - We're creating a teen-driven space for high school teens in greater Grand Rapids - called The Bridge of West Michigan!
NOW YOU CAN HOSTa FRIEND-RAISING PARTY!If you would like to schedule a BGM Friend-Raising Party with your friends, business or a potential funder, please contact us on our contact page or email:
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and tell us you want to host a Friend-Raising Party! This is a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation with a Q & A presented by BGM teens. All you need is a few hors d' oeuvres and we'll set up the rest.
Check out the "build it!" menu tab, above, to see other ways you can painlessly partner with us to Be A Bridge Builder (or donate on the left) and continue the support of these programs and efforts of our young people!
OUR NEW BLOG! Our first blog post is on the "blog" page above and is written by Mario Adkins, one of our Youth Advisory Board/Young Adult Mentor members. Check-it-OUT!!
Our Youth Advisory Board is working on moreOPPORTUNITIES... They'll be posted soon!
WE'VE GOT IT GOIN' ON:
Academic Achievement -
Bridge to Success(TM) Program:
BGM's Bridge To Success(TM) Program is a comprehensive program that increases high school graduation rates, college enrollment, engagement in service learning opportunities, and decreases truancy among high school students. It includes: mentoring, tutoring, violence prevention, service learning, BGM's Systems of Support(TM) component, life skills training, student success plans, Strengths Quest training, career development opportunities and college/university tours - and that's just for starters! We will begin enrollment in this program in the Fall. Space is limited.
Spiritual Development -
WHERE U AT? Urban Youth Conference!Our teens are part of the planning team for this conference that brings together over 250 young people from different cultures, socio-economic groups and Christian faiths to engage in one of the most amazing spiritual experiences of their lives. Check out what some of the teens had to say:
"It's a time that I can get away from the stressful life at home. It means the world that I can come to this every year."
"I've been dealing with some family issues and low self-esteem. The theme this year was 'Royalty'. I know that I'm a queen in the Kingdom of God. I was always looking for love. My dad was never really around to show me what a man should be like. I thought that to feel beautiful I needed a guy in my life. I know now that God is my greatest Father and He loves me more than I could ever love anyone."
"This helped me realize how everyone is royalty and we should treat everyone like royalty."
If you would like to support a teen and enable them to experience the God-head in a whole new way, you can click on the "Donate" button to the right and for $75 we can get it done!
Youth Development -
Attack the Snack!(TM) Program:
Our Attack the Snack!(TM) program is quite a success! We learn about marketing ploys that try to trick us into buying foods that sound healthy, but may not really be healthy. We learn about healthy eating, consumerism, self-esteem, fitness, and identify different kinds of foods and their fat content in order to make better choices. We share snacks and recipes from our cultures and heritages. We define how those snacks are healthy - or not - and tweak them into healthy, culturally-relevant snacking foods. Special thanks to United HealthCare, United HealthHeroes and Youth Service America for funding BGM's Attack the Snack(TM) Program and to The Dock for letting us run our program at their site this past year.
Leadership Training:
We have a number of our teens that recently went through a leadership/mentoring training course (in collaboration with Wedgwood Christian Services). Special thanks to The Edge for letting us use their space and impact their teens, too.
Service Learning:
HELPING THOSE IN TRANSITIONAL HOUSING - Once a quarter, our teens work with the Interfaith Hospitality Network and St. Stephen Parish at East Congregational Church and help homeless families move in and out of transitional housing. A day of caring, love and compassion (and a little sweat).
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY- BGM teens have been at the Grand Rapids Public Library doing face painting, reading to young ones and cleaning the board books & painted the outside of a church (The Edge) during this annual event! Random Acts of Kindness Day is organized by Central City Weed & Seed. Thanks CCWS and Macatawa Bank for the free lunch and T-shirts!
The Arts:
We attend various plays and cultural events. We also create hand-made thank you cards for our fabulous donors!
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