Opportunity boogies

Some 150 people gathered for the inaugural ONE Boogie in support of Youth Bridge and Feed Communities June 28 at the Garner Farm in Fayetteville.

ONE Boogie, which stands for "Opportunities Now Exist," featured food, live music by local musicians and a balloon pop. The goal of the "friend raiser" was "to build awareness about hunger and homelessness in our community since these two issues sometimes go hand in hand, and they happen to be two important goals for Feed Communities and Youth Bridge to address," said Nancy Hairston, director of development for Youth Bridge, in a July 9 email.

Feed Communities works with individuals, organizations, schools, universities, government agencies and foundations to create sustainable partnerships for increasing access to healthy foods and improving healthy food choices, according to feedcommunities.org. Youth Bridge is a nonprofit agency that serves youths and their families in the areas of abuse, neglect, addiction, homelessness, mental health issues and behavioral problems, according to youthbridge.com. Its services include providing an immediate safe haven, individualized treatment plans, aftercare and support, prevention programs and transitional living.

"We wanted to celebrate our plans to partner with Feed Communities. We would like for them to assist us with building in more healthy living initiatives into our residential programs," Hairston said.

The funds raised from the event will be used for planning the healthy living initiatives between the two organizations. Plans include Feed Communities helping Youth Bridge set up a better food procurement system for fresh vegetables and fruits at Youth Bridge and gardens for the clients in residential treatment to teach them about sustainable food sources, Hairston said.

"We also wanted to promote their nonprofit as a great resource in the community to partner with agencies such as ours who serve youth. They have valuable knowledge and experience, so this really is a model format to explore," she said.

Hairston said she hopes to build this event into a fundraiser in the future.

Tyson Foods, Arvest, Bank of America and Cox Communications were the main sponsors, Hairston said.

Benjamin Del Shreve, Candy Lee, Luke Pruitt and Viv & the Savages provided music at ONE Boogie.​

Guests won prizes from a balloon pop that included fitness programs at Clubhaus Fitness and World Gym, massages and an overnight stay at Cherokee Casino, she added.