Folks at the City of Kent and local volunteers are busy planning another fun You We Me, an interactive evening of free family fun. This year’s event will be held at ShoWare Center on Fri., Mar. 1 and will feature a variety of activities for kids of all ages. In addition to collecting food for the Kent Food Bank, event highlights include:

• 44 interactive vendor booths
• Bike raffle from Redline Bikes
• Radio Disney
• Sports competitions
• Face painting, hands on activities, games
• Bounce houses
• Rainier Youth Choirs
• Neely O’Brien DRUM and Red Hawk Singers
• Electronettes Drill Team and Drum Squad
• Cameron Sterling
• Kitana Turnball
• Allegro Performing Arts Academy
• Kent Elementary STOMP and Dance Team
• New Beginning Alofa Tunoa Youth Dance Group
• Kent Meridian Bridging the Seas Bollywood Group
• Kent Knights Jr. Cheer Team
• Kent Meridian Pacific Island Club
• $1 hot dogs and soda

Kent Food Bank will be on hand to accept donations of nonperishable food items. The event is organized by a cross-section of community groups, the Kent School District, Kent Parks, local youth groups, sports teams, scouts, churches, local businesses and service clubs. Come join the fun!

Families and kids of all ages are invited to attend “You Me We,” a festival of free family fun scheduled for Friday, February 18 at the ShoWare Center.

The free event is a celebration of Kent’s being named, for the first time ever, one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People in America, by America’s Promise Alliance, the nation’s largest partnership organization dedicated to youth and children.

“We want to celebrate Kent’s kids with the community in a big way, so we’ve asked for ideas and more importantly, participation from a lot of different groups,” said Julie Stangle, the City’s Youth and Teen Program Manager. “The response has been terrific; families won’t want to miss You Me We! It’s a celebration with a street fair atmosphere.”

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with stage entertainment by Master of Ceremonies Greg Bennick, nationally renowned juggler, comedian, speaker, and family fun guy, as well as local performers starting at 6:30 p.m. Other activities include:

* Interactive booths

* Hands-on art activities

* Sports competitions

* Face painting

* Bounce houses

* ShoWare Center tours

* Games, contests, raffles, and prizes including a Redline bicycle

* “Family friendly pricing” on concessions

The event is being organized by a collaboration of community groups, including the Kent School District, Kent Parks Department, youth groups, sports and scouting organizations, churches, local businesses, service clubs and the list is growing every day.

For more event details, visit www.YouMeWeKent.com. To register your group to provide entertainment or to host a free interactive booth, call 253-856-5030 or email jstangle@ci.kent.wa.us.

The 100 Best designation recognizes those communities that make youth a priority by implementing programs that help keep children in school and prepare them for college and the 21st century workforce. The entire 2010 list of 100 Best Communities for Young People and their accomplishments can be found at www.americaspromise.org/100Best.