By Bonnie Culverhouse

Every so often, Project Reclaim director Ron Anderson serves lunch to Minden community leaders and tells them things they don’t know.

Such as: 63 percent of kids kindergarten through high school who are in Project Reclaim come from single parent households.

“The good news is, we have more involved fathers this year than ever before,” Anderson said during lunch last Thursday.

Project Reclaim is a Youth Leadership Academy/Afterschool Program that has proven successful and runs on grant money and donations.

Of the 72 kids who attended in 2025, 100 percent have remained in school, 99 percent were promoted to the next grade, 100 percent remained free from juvenile court involvement and 100 percent remained from involvement in teen pregnancy.

“The key to this program’s success is this: these kids know we ‘care’ about them,” Anderson said. “We are firm with them, but we care about them, and that’s what makes them successful.”

In conjunction with City Judge Sherb Sentell, Anderson has a Minden Juvenile Court CC Ready Life Skills Class. Since 2016, 365 kids have reported to the class and 326 successfully completed it.

Children are referred by teachers who pick up on their needs for structure.

If Ron Anderson contacts you to come to one of his lunch meetings, please attend. In one hour, you will learn a lot. With your help, a child will learn even more.

Anderson is also available to speak to church and civic groups. Please call 318-423-4987 or email info@prstars.org. Donations may be made to Project Reclaim, P. O. Box 444, Minden, LA 71058-0444.