Park Place Outreach Youth Emergency Shelter, a support shelter for at-risk children and teens, will launch a guest dinner program in August to connect its residents with community leaders.

Every other Wednesday night, children and teens who are living in the shelter will prepare a meal and invite a guest speaker to join them for dinner. Ann Levett, superintendent of the Savannah-Chatham public schools, will speak at the first guest dinner program on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to share a home cooked meal with these young scholars and look forward to hearing the advice they will offer me about how adults can best support them,” said Levett.

Dr. Linda Sacks, a Park Place volunteer, is working with outreach case manager Fran Wilson to plan the menu for each event. Residents at the Shelter have been cultivating fresh fruits and vegetables in an on-site garden since the spring, and they will be incorporated into the menus.

“This exercise will build community among the kids and give them a sense of the opportunities available to them in the Savannah community at large,” Wilson said.

The shelter is typically home to six to 10 kids and teenagers at any given time. Volunteers and house parents will stay involved with them during the dinners to help them set the table, prepare the meal and engage in conversation with the guests.

“We are so thrilled that community influencers want to reach out to our youth through this program," said Julie Wade, executive director for Park Place Outreach. “Dr. Levett is a product of the local school system, so she is a testament to the success young people can achieve through perseverance in school."