Local YMCA teens attend conference

Forty teens and their adult leaders made their annual trek to Black Mountain, N.C. to attend the 30th Blue Ridge YMCA Christian Values Conference, held on July 17-21.

The conference, one of the largest YMCA teen values conferences in America, is held at the 1,500-acre, Blue Ridge YMCA Assembly Conference Center. These teens joined four hundred other 9-12 graders from Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, North   Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana and South Dakota. The local teens were from Navarre, Gulf Breeze, Mary Esther, Fort Walton Beach and Pensacola. The Values Conference culminated a year of fundraising, comprised of individual donations, bagging groceries, garage sales, grants and raffles. The YMCA of Northwest Florida also provided scholarships to   deserving teens within its service area.