By BARBARA WALKIN

Senior FN Reporter

barbara@nasguard.com

Monday, December 28 at the Jack Hayward High gym will be a night for the entire family, said Dudley Seide, founder of Reach Out Ministry.

"That will be the night we stage the Second Annual 'Let's Save Our Youth' Basketball Jamboree and Church Challenge," he added.

He noted that this will be bigger and better, "because as the body of Christ we are coming together to save our young people, especially our young men."

Seide said that he along with youth group leaders and teams from all dominations in Grand Bahama are uniting for a common goal.

"Due to the high level of crime and school violence we have seen this year, we are combining our resources as one body to bring the message to our young people.

"We are partnering with Calvary Temple, Freeport Bible, Mt. Zion Baptist, the Church of God of Prophecy, the Church of God and St. Jude for this historical event," he explained.

Seide said that the games are scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. and a team from each of these churches will be on the court, in the church challenge.

"We have the Assemblies of God and Pentecostal, Anglicans and Catholics, Baptist and Evangelical, Seventh-Day Adventist and Church of God ... all will be represented," he reiterated.

Of course, he added, the night will not be completed with the fathers and sons, and the pastors and politicians and the legends rematch.

"In the fathers and sons challenge we will have Oral "Big O" Jones and Oral Jr., Kenneth "Sir K" Smith and Kentwan, Derek "DI" Isaacs and Odessa, Basil "The Kid" Sands and Brent just to name a few," said Seide.

He explained that the primary focus of this event is to demonstrate to the young people that there are persons, "out there that care about them during this holiday season."

Sedie noted that although the games are scheduled to be played after the holiday, people are still in a festive mood.

"And some children may have gone without opening a gift.

"Therefore, we are asking everyone to not only come out and support this event, but to also bring a gift."

He noted that the gifts will be presented to the less fortunate children in the Garden Villas, Columbus Park and other areas where Reach Out Ministry hold events.

"The support we received for the Hallelujah Night event was awesome, and everyone supported by paying the entrance fee, which went to assisting ROM programs.

"I encourage the Grand Bahama community to do the same for the 'Let's Save Our Youth Jamboree. For this event every child who brings a gift will only pay $1 and every adult that brings a gift will pay $3."

That way, Seide noted, "every child in Garden Villas will be able to say they had a gift this Christmas."