Parent Letter 2024-25
Dear Parents, Guardians, and Adult Friends,
Welcome! We’re glad that your young Friend is a part of the Southern Appalachian Young Friends [SAYF] community! At the start of each year we send a letter reminding and updating our adult community about what SAYF is all about!
SAYF is Thriving
Watching SAYF build momentum over the last couple of years has been inspiring and deeply satisfying. We see how this community transforms the lives of the participating youth. So, it is heartening to note more young friends attending each year after resuming in-person retreats in 2022. Our largest retreats since COVID were at Atlanta in January and Durham in April, with 30 young friends in attendance at each. Overall, 40 teens attended at least one retreat over the
last year.
Beyond the encouraging numbers, SAYFers have continued to step into leadership roles both in their own community and beyond. In August, a group of eleven Nurturers met to plan the upcoming year and considered how to best welcome new and returning young friends to SAYF. Some of you may have also had the opportunity to see SAYFers at the SAYMA plenary on Faith and Practice Guidelines in June. Attendees expressed their appreciation for the young friends’ wisdom and humor as they shared how SAYF approaches concepts such as eldering and unity.
Young Friends welcome newcomers
Through many seasons, we have been struck by how SAYF consistently creates a community of inclusivity, care, and thoughtful intention. Many of the young Friends who were with SAYF through COVID graduated in June, and we continue to see Spirit revitalized as the community welcomes newcomers. Over the course of the past year, 15 young Friends attended their first retreat, and six young Friends became Nurturers who plan and support the youth-led retreats. These leaders bring new energy and are excited to continue and create anew the magic of SAYF.
We look forward to continued growth in the upcoming retreats. Retreat rates have been raised by $5 to $40 per teen, to more adequately meet costs. We remain committed to ensuring youth can participate in SAYF regardless of financial situation. Scholarships continue to be available for any families who request them. We are also instituting a new family rate of $100 total per retreat for families sending 3 or more SAYFers.
Managing COVID in a new era
As COVID continues to wax and wane in our communities, we have deeply considered what precautions we should keep, and which ones are no longer necessary. We ask that youth skip retreats if they have COVID, or are still within the 5-day window of testing positive for COVID.
If a participant develops symptoms of a contagious illness during a retreat, Friendly Adult Nurturers (FANs) will follow our guidelines to minimize the risk of exposing others, and if needed, contact the participant’s parents or emergency contact. Please see our updated policy below.
Volunteer progress!
The SAYF Support Committee and Steering Committee continues to look for additional volunteers, Friendly Adult Nurturers [FANs] to ensure we can support SAYF for years to come.
If you haven’t had a chance to attend our FAN Training, please consider attending!
We invite all adult members of the community, including parents and guardians, to participate, as it will give you a good sense of what SAYF is all about and how you and other adults can participate in helping us to build and keep the program strong and safe for young Friends. We welcome parents and guardians to become FANs, and the steps to do can be found on our FAN Page.
There are other ways to support the program as well. You can be a night shepherd (see the FAN Page for description), provide snacks, send a potluck dish, provide groceries, or make a financial donation. If you would like more ideas on how you can help, please contact Autumn Woodward, SAYF Program Coordinator, at awesomesayfers@gmail.com or ask to speak to the lead FAN at any retreat.
In an effort not to clutter your mailbox, we will stop sending these letters to SAYFers who have not attended any retreats for a year. If you still wish to receive SAYF mailings, please email the SAYF program coordinator at awesomesayfers@gmail.com.
Steps to becoming an adult volunteer are listed on the Volunteer page of SAYF’s website at the link below:
https://awesomesayfers.org/volunteer-fans/
Sincerely,
SAYF Steering and Nurturing Committees