KING CITY — King City Rotary Club hosted a dedication ceremony during its Dec. 6 meeting at Sun Street Centers in King City to celebrate the completion of the Darlene Acosta Youth Center Rotary Student Lounge.
The Rotary Clubs from the Salinas Valley and local Rotarians joined together to sponsor, fund, furnish and install the furnishings of the student lounge, which is the primary feature of the new youth center.
The King City Rotary Club partnered with the Rotary Clubs of Soledad, Gonzales, Salinas Valley Passport, Hartnell College Rotaract and King City Interact, along with individual Rotarians and their businesses, to fund the project and obtain a joint Rotary District 5230 grant to make this project possible.
Sun Street Centers recently developed and opened the youth center in its King City facility. The youth center, named after late King City Councilmember and Sun Street Centers employee Darlene Acosta, provides a safe location for youth to gather, relax and access important resources assistance.
Located across the street from King City High School, the youth center features a lounge area with couches and a television, a teen closet for those needing clothes, a pantry for those needing food, a computer room to work on homework and another area to meet with staff for counseling. It is used for programs for all teens, but will be most valuable for those who are experiencing some challenges in their life.
As a result of the Rotary Clubs’ efforts, the room is recognized as the Rotary Lounge and a sign has been created to identify all the participating clubs and donors, which was unveiled at the opening.
According to King City Rotary President James Ewart, “This was an amazing team effort of Rotarians throughout the Salinas Valley. The future of our youth is a major priority of Rotary, so we are excited to make this important investment in the needs of our local youth.”
Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million members who unite and take action to create lasting change in their communities and across the globe.
