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www.driftlessjournal.com | 563-382-4221 | Tuesday, November 12, 2024 | Vol. 6 Issue 46
Helping Services to celebrate 20 years of Holiday Lights
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The nonprofit Helping Services for Youth and Families has provided services to families in the area since 1973, and for the last 20 years, the Decorah-based organization has been dazzling Decorah with its Holiday Lights fundraiser. The event is its largest annual fundraiser and helps pay for the organization’s multitude of programs. Holiday Lights was first held in 2005 with 38 displays, and in recent years, more than twice that number of displays have been created by local businesses and families. The event also attracts an outpouring of volunteer support. More than 300 volunteers helped with the event in 2023, said Helping Services Executive Director Carson Eggland.
Helping Services for Youth and Families has hosted its annual Holiday Lights fundraiser since 2005. The event helps pay for the various programs offered by the local nonprofit. (File photos)
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“When Holiday Lights was originally started, we charged by the car,” Eggland said. “Today, it’s all free-will donation, and I think that’s great, because anyone can come celebrate with us and enjoy the lights.” The 2024 Holiday Lights fundraiser is once again scheduled for late November — walking tours will take place Nov. 27, and drivethrough visits will begin Nov. 28. Eggland said all the funds raised during the Holiday Lights event support Helping Service’s programs, including domestic abuse advocacy, in-home family education, prevention services and a youth mentoring program. He said the mentoring program is one of the organization’s more wellknown offerings. “We ask that our mentors commit to four hours every month for one year,” Eggland said. “It’s very simple, and we’re always looking for more volunteers for our youth mentoring program.” Eggland said the organization tries to pair mentors with youth who have similar interests within the same communities, but he said that’s not always easy in rural Iowa. “Winneshiek County is not just Decorah,” Eggland said. “There are other communities in the county that have expressed interest in mentors, and this program stretches across northeast Iowa. Sometimes, all it takes is one person in someone’s life to change a youth’s trajectory or just provide them with new expe-
BY ZACH JENSEN DECORAH LEADER STAFF WRITER
Call Audrey with questions 563-380-3015
riences they might not otherwise have. That’s one of our goals — to try to create experiences for youth — whether that’s going to the zoo or a baseball game — and just have another person in their life that they can trust. Being a kid is tough, so the more trusted adults you can provide in someone’s life, the better off they’ll be. We’re just trying to be a friend, and that’s something we can all be.” From classroom to community Karen Tjossem was a junior at Luther College in 1971, when she and her classmates were asked to research whether the Decorah area would benefit from a crisis intervention center. At the time, there were a few centers in Iowa, but none were in the Decorah area. The class talked to community members, the ministerial association, police department, hospital staff and doctors to determine if there was a need. With the support of the community, the class found the area would benefit from the addition of a crisis center. Their next step was getting funding and a location. Local attorney Frank Miller anonymously donated his office space to the group, and volunteers soon began to train with mental health professionals in Iowa City. “In the beginning, we did a lot of information and referrals because we weren’t trained psychologists, and we weren’t trained to
Helping Services continued on page 9
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Most photos will be published in The Driftless/Decorah Leader Holiday edition.