The Saratoga Youth Commission was mentioned in just one sentence, "The youth commission will continue but the city is expected to make substantial cuts in its funding." I feel this sentence just doesn't do justice to the cuts that affect us.

The Warner Hutton House is a small Victorian house that you might have noticed while passing the community center on Fruitvale Avenue. What most don't notice, though, is that every day after school the house is filled with over 50 kids. Now, unlike many of the newer child day care centers that cost hundreds of dollars a month, the Warner house has been open for over 10 years and provides free supervision to any student who attends Redwood Middle School. With a variety of activities from playing a game of pool to doing homework, the house has a unique atmosphere that attracts a wide variety of kids. However, due to the budget cuts the house is schedule to be closed on April 8.

To most attendees, their immediate reaction was that they would have to find somewhere else to go, but then they realized there is nowhere to go. We can't have fun at the library because we can't hangout and socialize, and people will get mad with 50 kids roaming downtown. What's left? This is the saddest part of the whole situation; the only place for us to go is scheduled to close.

We are lucky enough to live in a community where amazing things happen, such as the football field and the performing arts center being built at the high school. Both of these have one thing in common: Members of the community stepped up and donated to make these projects a reality. This shows what our community is about, and I have a feeling that somebody out there cares enough to keep open a place for Saratoga's teens.

When I walk into the Warner Hutton House after school, I see how all of these kids have given up on saving the Warner House. Then when I ask them if they have given up, they respond with one word: "Yes." To me this isn't right.

When I tell them that we can reach our goal of raising $10,000 to keep the Warner House open they think I'm crazy. I don't think it is. With your help I can prove to my peers that there is hope, and that they don't have to go to the library, or float around store-to-store downtown getting nasty faces thrown at them. Your help would mean so much to all of us at the Warner Hutton House and your money would go directly to our goal. If we meet our goal, the house will stay open--and that's what all of us really want.

For more information, or to make a donation, contact Adam Henig, the recreation program coordinator for the city of Saratoga, at 408.868.1272. Corey Rateau, 13, is in the eighth grade at Redwood Middle School.