PHOTO BY DONNA CAMPBELL Reach 1 Save 1 will host a free fishing event for youth 10 and up Saturday at Brookhaven Fishing Pond on Belt Line Drive. Practicing their casts are, from left, Tristan Phillips, Phillip Sterling, Makenzie Childs, Gabriel Browder, Randy Belcher, Tyler Smith and Christian Browder.

Reach 1 Save 1 hopes to provide a morning of fun and fish for youth ages 10 and up Saturday.

The community-based organization, founded by incoming interim Brookhaven Police Chief Randy Belcher, is hosting Fishing Day at the Brookhaven Fishing Pond.

For the free event, the gated pond can be accessed off Belt Line Drive east of the Brookhaven Building.

Fishing Day is 8-11 a.m., but Belcher asks that youngsters arrive by 7:30 a.m. to go over instructions for the event.

Belcher said the morning’s focus will be to teach the girls and boys a new hobby as well as creating a safe space for mentoring.

Joining Belcher to coordinate the event is Phillip Sterling, pastor of Grace Community Church.

The two chose fishing for Reach 1 Save 1’s first organized event because of the peace and fellowship that a few poles and a can of worms can bring.

“Fishing is a calm sport and with all the disruption, calm is what the youth need at this time,” Belcher said.

Belcher hopes community members and churches will join together under the Reach 1 Save 1 umbrella to create fun group activities for kids that will offer opportunities for mentorship.

The youth fishing day is a good example of that. Organizers put the word out for funding to host the event and quickly raised the money needed to stock the pond with catfish. That will be done shortly before the kids are ready to cast. There are also some bream and bass already in the pond.

“Donations came from throughout the community,” Sterling said. “Brookhaven and Lincoln County have some great people who do not mind extending whatever help they possibly can.”

Belcher said volunteers will be on hand to teach the youth how to bait a hook, throw the line and remove their catch.

“This will be an opportunity for the youth that do not know how to fish to learn how, and for those that already know how to fish, this will give them the opportunity to teach and bond with other youth that do not know how,” he said. “It will also give the youth the opportunity to meet other youth that enjoy sport and maybe start a new friendship.”

Kids should bring their own poles if possible, chairs if needed and an ice chest to carry their fish home. Belcher said they’ll have a few poles available for participants to take turns using and a limited number of fish stringers.

The youngsters will also need to dress for the summer heat. Saturday’s forecast is sunny in the morning with temperatures in the low 90s. The UV index is expected to be extremely high.

“It will be always expected to be extremely hot so protective clothing, hats, long-sleeve, lightweight light-colored clothing and sunscreen should be used and encouraged as a precaution,” Sterling said.

Organizers are asking parents and guardians to stay awhile with their children until the youngsters feel comfortable enough to stay alone.

But they’re also welcome to stay and help out.

“Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts. It does not matter. All volunteers are welcome to come and assist in whatever way they can,” Sterling said.

He said they need everyone from experienced fishermen who can share their knowledge to monitors to watch and make sure the children stay safe near the water and at the event.

Belcher is hopeful this will be the first of many activities hosted through Reach 1 Save 1.

“We would like to keep things going for the youth so that they can experience and have something to look forward to,” he said. “ We would like to get to know as many as we can and create safe spaces for them to express themselves as well as what is going on in their community and implement peaceful conflict resolutions.”

It’s a pro-active step that’s needed for the children and teenagers in the community.

“We are aware that conflicts will arise but if you teach them how to resolve them without violence that will be a great start to saving our youth,” he said.

For more information, call 601-748-6344.