The Bellingham Bay Rotary Club made a $15,000 donation in November to Northwest Youth Services to enable it to get one step closer to completing its capital project for the Positive Adolescent Development Project .

The PAD Project will provide emergency housing, long-term housing, laundry facilities and other drop-in services for homeless youth between the ages of 13 and 17. The gift will fund the renovation costs of the Drop-In Center, providing services to more than 70 runaway and homeless minors a year.

Northwest Youth Services is the only nonprofit in Bellingham that is focused on fostering self-reliance with at-risk, runaway, and homeless youth. The agency collaborates with schools, governments, churches and other social service agencies to round out services to those in need.

Northwest Youth Services began in 1976 as a Whatcom County-only service provider, but now serves youth and families in Skagit County as well. For information on Northwest Youth Services’ PAD Project, visit www.nwys.org/pad/.