Sedalia Basketball Coaches Boost Youngsters With Coen’s Way, Boys & Girls Club Teen Center Advocacy at Rotary Club

State Fair Community College’s Men’s Head Coach Matt Brown and former University of Missouri-Columbia Men’s Head Basketball Coach and Smith-Cotton Tiger Hall of Famer Kim Anderson demonstrated their support for local youth off the basketball courts at the Sedalia Rotary Club with their support of Coen’s Way and the recently announced Boys and Girls Club Teen Center.

Coach Brown accepted a $1,000 check from Rotarian Corey Bond at last week’s meeting on behalf of Coen’s Way, a newly formed charity named for Brown’s son who battled a rare form of cancer for nearly a year before the All-State basketball player passed away last May.

Brown said donations like this would go to help individuals and their families enduring cancer diagnosis.  Brown cited specifically another area youth who was recently diagnosed with Desmoplastic small cell round tumors (DSRCT), the same rare cancer that his son had.

Following the check presentation to Brown, former MU Coach Kim Anderson explained that his time in Columbia helped him learn how important the Boys and Girls Club were to that community and so many others.

Anderson, joined by the local Boys and Girls Club’s Development Director Emily Schmidt, shared details on the new Teen Center that will be located across from the Katy Depot on 3^rd Street in Sedalia.

“The more I’ve gotten into this, the more I’ve learned about it,” Anderson said.  “I think it’s a pretty neat idea to help with the youth of Sedalia and the surrounding areas.”

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Among the new offerings to tweens and teens will be a workforce development lab and workshop designed to develop skills for those either immediately entering the workforce after high school as well as those planning on pursuing higher education.  The facility will have a 7,500-square-foot gym as well as music and game rooms.

Burrell Youth Mental Health Services will also have space for a staff member to provide mental health services to youngsters and their families.

Anderson and Schmidt indicated that they are approximately halfway toward their $10 million fundraising goal for the new Teen Center and hope to break ground by early Fall 2024.

“I think this is a cool project,” Anderson said when concluding his presentation.  “I’ve seen it work and I’ve seen what it does to help boys and girls.”

The Sedalia Rotary Club’s continued focus on youth support and development was also a part of the meeting’s earlier discussion, led by Leslie Wimer and Ryan Wiedeman, on the Sedalia Rotary Club’s 48^th Annual Benefit Auction called “Create Hope” that will take place on April 26^th.  Funds raised will be used to help provide scholarship money for Smith-Cotton Junior ROTC students as well as other charitable endeavors by the Club.

Details on the auction can be found at the Facebook event at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/events/387358944003856