Youth Services

CONGRESSWOMAN RETURNS – Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, seen here speaking at the 2022 Youth Center grand opening, will return to the center on May 20 for its first anniversary. (File photo). U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman will be the featured speaker at the Franklin Youth Center’s first anniversary celebration, slated for noon on May 20. Coleman will speak during the …

The Franklin Reporter & Advocate was out and about on October 28 and 29, bringing you donations, parties and fundraisers. Om October 28, we were at the Franklin Food Bank HQ on Churchill Road where the food bank received a nearly $7,000 cash donation from the Sodhani Foundation and members of the Canal Walk community.

Township Councilwoman Kimberly Francois, far right, presents a special plaque to Saffie Kallon, second from right, for her work on the township Youth Center. The celebration of the new Franklin Township Youth Center continued at the May 24 Township Council meeting, with a special presentation to one of the Center’s guiding forces. Township Councilwoman Kimberly Francois (D-At Large) credited with …

Parks & Recreation Director Beau Byrtus, right, talks about the Youth Center opening as Advisory Recreation Council chairman Keith Stewart looks on. More than 400 township youths have taken out free memberships in the township Youth Center, with the facility’s grand opening just days away. That was the word on May 11 from Beau Byrtus, the director of Parks and …

The Grand Opening Celebration will be followed by a “Youth Fest.” (File photo.) U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12) will be among the dignitaries attending the grand opening of the Franklin Youth Center, set for 1 p.m. on May 14. The Center is located at 429 Lewis Street.

Applications will be accepted through June 1. Applications are now being accepted for the Franklin Township Police’s Youth Police Academy, to be held from July 14-22, 2022. The program is open to students in 8th to 12 grades.

Samantha Hanlon was this year’s FTPD Youth Week Class Leader. A week of drilling, marching and learning police procedures came to an end on July 23 with the graduation of 24 Police Youth Cadets at the Board of Education administration building. During the week, the middle and high schoolers experienced simulated drunk driving, learned about the police K-9 Corps and …

The 2016 winners of an annual poster contest for the township’s school children were celebrated at the Dec. 13 Township Council meeting. The contest is sponsored by the township Municipal Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse. This year’s theme was “We Can Be Above The Influence And Still be Influenced.”

The Franklin Township Municipal Youth Services Commission was recently awarded two grants totaling $7,500 by the Somerset County Freeholders. The money was part of $90,000 in grants awarded by the Freeholders to 14 youth services commissions representing all 21 Somerset County towns according to a press release on the awards.