OKEECHOBEE -- Forward Bound Youth Services, a non-profit organization, will host a youth dance in March and a Christmas in July dinner at the Douglas Brown Community Center in July.

At their Jan. 23 meeting, Okeechobee County Commissioners voted to waive the daily use fee of $200 for the teen dance, which is planned from 7 to 11 p.m. on March 29.

“We noticed teens don’t have anything to do to entertain them,” said Kizzy Boswell. “We have activities that we are starting to implement. To raise funds for some of these programs, we want to do a teen dance.

“This is a small thing to get to bigger things,” she explained. “We’re taking baby steps to get there.”

Forward Bound Youth Services is a community-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting education and offering scholarships to high school seniors. The organization also focuses on teaching life management skills and working to prevent youth from becoming at risk.

The commissioners also approved a request to allow alcohol to be served at the Christmas in July fundraising event planned for July 12 at the Douglas Brown Community Center.

Boswell said the Christmas in July event will include a dinner and an auction. She said this will raise funds for the Toys for Joy event in December.

The 2024 Toys for Joy event had a big turnout, she said. We gave out toys to more than 300 kids.

“We want to make it bigger this year,” she said. “Kids in our community need a lot of things.”

She said they are asking local businesses to donate items for the auction.