News Release

FORT WAYNE – Youth for Christ of Northern Indiana is embarking on their sixth Annual We Believe In You(th) week, Nov. 17-21, across the region to ensure “our young people know we see them, hear them, love them, and believe in them.”

We Believe in You(th) week will be Nov. 17-21. Photo provided.

What started as a local campaign in 2020 to uplift youth has become a movement that has impacted thousands of young people in this region and beyond.

YFCNIN is inviting Northern Indiana to join in sharing this message loud and clear: “Young people are our future, and we will be a community that goes all out on their behalf.”

YFCNIN’s goal for WBIY Week is for young people to receive encouraging words from the adults in their lives that will last much longer than this one-week campaign and to raise support for YFC’s mission to build relationships with young people, to introduce them to Christ, and uncover God’s story of hope in their lives.

WBIY Week will include a fundraising component that will reveal more than $375,000 in matching funds from various businesses and donors, a social media push with #WBIYweek, a radio collaboration with Star 88.3 and Bott Radio Network, handwritten cards and videos shown to young people, and a flood of positive messages directed toward the youth across an array of media channels.

“WBIY Week is an all-out campaign to tell the young people of this region that we believe in them, their future, and what they have to offer,” said Drew Williams, CEO of Youth For Christ Northern Indiana. “So, what we’ll do during this entire week is we’ll ask the community at large to join us in sharing that message with young people. Since the start of the campaign five years ago, tens of thousands of encouraging messages of hope have gone out to our young people. In fact, last year alone, there were over 7,000 personal handwritten notes to the young people in this region.”

Williams and YFCNIN are once again inviting all of Northern Indiana to join in the movement this year by following these examples:

• Pick up the phone, send a text, or turn to a young person in your life and tell them why you believe in them.
• Post a picture of your younger self on social media during November 17-21 with the words you wish you had heard as a young person; use the hashtag #WBIYweek.
• Raise funds by creating your own fundraising page at wbiy.org and invite your friends, family, and co-workers to join you so every young person hears, “We believe in YOU.”

For information on how to support or learn more about WBIY week by visiting wbiy.org.