Why Support LHYC? Why Does it Matter?

LHYC is a non-profit youth center, open to all children who are Elementary-High school age, completely FREE of charge for everything we do, all of the time.
We have been in downtown Sullivan for 8 years, located @ 11 N Clark St (the old ECC building). If you haven’t been in recently, we have completed several major renovations to the space, and have plans for more in the future. We opened a 2nd location @ 314 E Washington St, Cuba (The Lewis Center) in 2022.
We are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 2-7 all year long, to provide our community's young people a fun, sometimes structured, safe, and caring place to spend time after school and in the summer. Staff and volunteers strive to provide a support system that fosters good values, life skills, and self-confidence in our youth.
We provide Transportation to and from the center to any youth who needs it.
LHYC has 3 main goals that drive everything we do.

1) We provide a safe place for kids to just be kids and spend time with their peers. We have several fun things within, and outside of our building to offer: pool tables, ping pong, old arcade games, shuffleboard, foosball, lounge areas, a wall of TVs and the latest gaming systems, desktops for gaming, an art and crafts area, books, board games, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and we have a high school only space.

2) We meet the basic needs of our students.

Food - we provide snacks in the afternoon, we eat dinner together each night, we send home food whenever needed for our students and their whole family, and provide Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets to every family who needs one to have a complete holiday meal with their loved ones.
Hygiene products
School supplies
Clothes
Shoes
Other necessities

Whatever the basic need is, we fill it for our students completely free.

3) We provide opportunities for, challenge, and encourage growth in whatever capacity that looks like for each individual youth.

We teach life skills. Past and current examples: car maintenance, budgeting, finance, resume writing and job interviewing, cooking, chores, conflict resolution, how to tie a tie, etc.
We have a mentoring program that pairs youth in one on one or group matches.
We provide tutoring and homework assistance.
We have a scholarship program.
We take our students monthly to do things like: indoor rock climbing, to play laser tag, hiking, to the movies, skating rink, to play putt putt, to go ride go-carts, fishing, to six flags, and the zoo.
We have programs, classes, and clubs like: art, fitness, sports, cooking, bible studies, suicide prevention, anger management, stress management, substance use, student leadership, trivia, and gaming.
We do community service at least monthly. Stop and say hi if you see us out picking up trash or dropping off cookies somewhere.

Whatever it is that is going to help our current group of youth grow, thrive, and succeed, is what we do 100% free of charge.

But... in order to keep doing all these things and to keep them free... We need your help.

LHYC 2025 Annual "Be the Light Gala"

Our Annual "Be the Light" Gala and Auction will be held Saturday, November 8th at the Sullivan Eagles Hall. Sullivan, Missouri