More than 70 local youth attended the first of the monthly "Find Yourself Fridays" events held Fri., Jan. 28, at the Milford Youth Center, according to a written statement from Youth Center Director Jim Sanchioni. The events are a collaboration of the Juvenile Advocacy Group (JAG), a program of Wayside Youth & Family Support Network, and the Youth Center. 

The focus of the first event was homelessness and those in attendance were charged $2 per person or $1 if a toiletry item was donated. The donations will go to the Milford Housing Authority and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

“We are extremely proud of all the hard work that the JAG/MYC Youth Council members did to make this event happen," the Juvenile Advocacy Group/Milford Youth Commission said in the statement. "It was their ideas, their efforts and their event and it went off perfectly. Everyone who attended had a great time and look forward to the next event. 

"We would like to thank the many local organizations and businesses that provided donations and raffles prizes: Zizi Pizza and Grill of Hopedale, McDonald's of Milford, South Bridge Pizza, Target of Milford, Pinz Entertainment, Dudley's Music, Robins Nest, Milford Sports Center, BVT and Tim Snow for doing caricatures. We would like to express a special thank you to all the volunteers and members of the JAG Youth Council, who worked for over a month to plan this event for the community."

The event also included sports games, raffle prizes, pizza and a magician. Funding for "Find Yourself Fridays" is supported by the United Way of Tri-County Youth Venture Program and CHNA-6. The next Friday event will be held in March.