Mon Valley Youth and Teen Association still helping kids
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Billee Jo Trilli, left, and Skye Griffin pass out meals to some of the children in the Mon Valley Youth and Teen Association’s Kids Connection program.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Children who participate in the Mon Valley Youth and Teen Association’s Kids Connection program sing during a recent session.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Participants in Kids Connection, from left, Karys Sloan, 7, Snaiya Griffin, 3, and Destiny Fischer, 9, stand in front of a Christmas tree decorated by the children in the program.
Perhaps the best way to describe the Mon Valley Youth and Teen Association is that it’s an organization “that helps families and people and kids.”
At least that’s the description used by Mary Anne Bandalo, who has been executive director of the Donora nonprofit organization for, as she says, “forever.”
Bandalo actually became the executive director in 1995. She and the agency’s few part-time employees and 100 to 125 volunteers are dedicated to the community and youth of the Mon Valley.
“We have so many years of working with children,” Bandalo said. “I love the kids. That’s why I’m still doing this. I’m happiest when I’m working with kids. I feel everybody is born for a purpose. Working with kids has been my purpose.”
It definitely is the purpose of the Mon Valley Youth and Teen Association, which is located at 160 Thompson Ave.
One program that meets that purpose is Kids Connection. It is held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. for kindergarten through fourth-grade students.
Kids Connection provides children with assistance with their homework, arts and crafts, games and many other activities. Children also are provided with a nutritious meal upon arrival.
Fish and french fries were on the menu at a recent session.
“The kids come here and they get a meal and help with their homework,” Bandalo said. “We have some part-time employees and volunteers that work with the kids. They just like the attention.”
When Bandalo asked the children attending a recent session if they liked the program, the answer was a resounding “yes.”
What do they like about it? The answers included the food, the chance to be with friends and playing games.
Something else they like is the No 1 rule at Kids Connection: “Bullying Stops Here,” and a banner made by the children sporting that message hangs from the ceiling.
The Kids Connection fee is $15 per month per child with an additional yearly membership fee of $5 per individual and $10 per family required.
“But we never turn anybody away,” Bandalo said. “We take all children. Anybody can come.”
There are currently 42 kids signed up for Kids Connection.
Parents and even grandparents of current children in the program once attended the Kids Connection.
Other programs offered by the association include youth groups, a day camp at Palmer Park in Donora and a resident camp in which children spend a week in the summer at Camp Watakamini in the mountains of Forbes State Forest and Laurel Hill State Park.
There also is a food pantry at the facility the third Monday of every month from 10 a.m. to noon for people in the borough and surrounding communities in conjunction with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
This past summer, the association had a summer feeding program in which close to 10,000 meals were delivered to community members in a span of about eight weeks.
The Mon Valley Youth and Teen Association was a “Charity of Excellence” honoree in 2020 by the Washington County Community Foundation.
As is the case with most nonprofit organizations, there is always a need for funding.
“I’ll never turn down money,” Bandalo said. “We’ll find something to do with it for kids. Anybody that’s in need, we try to help. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a labor of love. We do whatever we need to do in the community.”