The transformation of what started in the 1970s as the building housing the Manteca News is nearly complete.
The café, complete with tables and chairs provided by Starbucks, still needs some equipment and the prerequisite TV screens.
The former pressroom turned church sanctuary has been transformed into a super-sized teen cave.
A state-of-the-art media center for creating video postings and podcasts is coming together.
And the smartphone lockers — where teens that drop by can park theirs to receive a wrist band for free food — have been ordered.
When all is done, the two-story building on the southeast corner of Yosemite Avenue and Fremont Avenue will serve as the home for the Thomas Toy Community Center. It’s primary mission is to serve as a teen center that teens access without being charged.
But at the end of a day it is still a building.
It can’t begin to be a place where teens can be safe as well as be a place — in the words of Toy Center Executive Director Albino Moreno — where “they want to be” without one thing.
Volunteers.
That’s where the community comes in.
The teen center, that is moving toward a September opening, needs as many as 200 volunteers to make it work.
Commitment levels start as little as two hours a month.
Volunteers will help make the teen center a place that seventh through 12 grades can hang out, socialize, play games, make videos, learn skills such as guitar playing and working on a car, conduct poetry slams — you mane it — in a safe environment.
A volunteer open house is being conducted on Thursday, July 18, from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
It will give those interested in volunteering a chance to view the facilities and see the possibilities.
There are 11 general areas volunteers are needed:
*Mentoring: Emotional, educational, spiritual, music, mechanical, and business.
*Workshop: Bike repair, automotive (oil change and tire repair) and skateboards.
*Front desk: Answering phones and registering students/check-ins
*Café: Make coffee, serve snacks, prepare food, and work the cash register.
*Janitorial services: Clean bathrooms, wipe tables, and clean floors.
*Gardening: Plant and maintain planter boxes.
*Arts & crafts: Painting, needlepoint, jewelry making, and other.
*Music: Play at events, teach, or be an assistant for a class.
*Game/rec room: Monitor students, movie night volunteer, play games with students, and exercise class.
*Media room: Podcasting, audio recording, and video capture and editing.
*Event volunteer: Chaperone students check-in food/drink service, event set-up, other duties as need.
The teen center hours will be Monday through Friday from 2 to 7 p.m. with some weekends.
Volunteer hours can change based on need.
Volunteers are required to complete Live Scan prior to working with students.
More information can be found at thomastoycc.org or by calling 209-407-2568.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
