Local children enjoy bowling and making new friends with Thrive Mat-Su

WASILLA— Children participating in the Thrive Mat-Su program enjoyed an evening of bowling and connecting with their peers at North Bowl Thursday, June 25.

“As things with the pandemic are getting better, it’s been super encouraging to just to see students get back together in larger groups of kids and be able to connect with each other,” Thrive Mat-Su Youth Program Coordinator Matt Clayton said.

George Sikat and his brother Raymond had a good time working on their technique and sharing laughs with other kids.

“I love how they give us the opportunity to make new friends,” Sikat said.

United Way of Mat-Su oversees Thrive Mat-Su, a community-led coalition made up of locals from all walks of life with the core mission to support local youth and prevent substance misuse through a range of programs, fundraisers, and public projects.

Raymond said that he’s attended every archery event Thrive has hosted, and he’s made several friends through the other various activities offered in the youth program.

“It’s really fun. I like the activities they do,” Raymond said. “I like the fact that I can try new things.

Clayton said around 80 local students bowled Thursday evening. He said this is one of several summer activities they do throughout the season.

“We do a super wide variety of activities,” Clayton said. “This week alone, we’ve done rock climbing, horseback riding, bowling, archery… Most weeks we’ve got like four or five activities going on.”

Clayton said they’re planning to add more activities toward the beginning of the school year. Thrive staff and volunteers work with children all year to provide after-school activities, events, and contests to promote youth resiliency against substance abuse.

George and Raymond are active members of Thrive and plan to continue trying out various activities.

“It gives us something to do in the summer,” George said.

Clayton said that giving kids something to do during the summer can greatly reduce their risk of falling into bad habits that negatively affect their health and wellbeing.

Clayton said that all the kids at the bowling alley were there because of their text alert system, which is their primary way of notifying families about upcoming events and activities. He said they’ve been steadily growing the total number of families signed up for text alerts, prompting them further expand their efforts to meet the demand.

“When students are bored and students are disconnected, depression rates and other risk factors increase,” Clayton said. “We’re doing everything that we can to increase the protective factors that prevent substance abuse and help young people thrive.”

For more information or to sign your children up for Thrive text alerts, text the word “Thrive” to 907-745-5826 to fill out an activity and interest survey. Visit unitedwaymatsu.org/our-work/coalitions/thrive-mat-su for more details about the program.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com