Jaycees delivers Christmas to Youth Dynamics

Havre Jaycees had extra money this year and decided buying gifts for children served by the nonprofit Youth Dynamics would be a great way to spend it.

"It kinda just happened," Youth Dynamics Area Manager Briayan Flores said Wednesday. "(Jaycees member) Chelby (Gooch), she just knocked on our door about a month ago. She asked the age of the kids we have and surprised us with 33 gifts.

"It was amazing," he added

The best part, Flores added, is the kids weren't even expecting the gifts.

The Youth Dynamics staff has begun delivering gifts already, but since the weather put a slick veneer on the highways Wednesday, case workers put off deliveries to Fort Belknap and Harlem until the roads are in better condition.

Youth Dynamics, a nonprofit children's behavioral health agency, operates with the goal to provide evidence-based treatment for kids with behavioral or mental health issues. Thirty-one Youth Dynamics locations are spread throughout Montana. The Havre office serves children within a 60 mile radius of Havre.

The agency serves children and families through therapy, case management, family education and support, foster and respite care, mentoring, therapeutic group home care, equine-assisted therapy, substance abuse treatment and independent living skills.

Gooch said the extra money came, in part, from The Montana Hammer Motorcycle Club, which donated a good chunk from a toy run back in September to Jaycees, as well as from an upgraded haunted house that did well during Halloween.

"We had a little extra money this year, so we thought we'd help somebody we never helped out before," Gooch said.

Youth Dynamics Public Relations Coordinator Katie Gerten of Missoula said the Town Pump Foundation also donated $500 to Havre's Youth Dynamics to help its families meet their needs in the holiday season.