Tickets $35 each. Tables of 8 may be purchased by contacting the Youth Center. This is an "over 21" event.

This popular annual "over 21" event showcases 15-18 local restaurants and purveyors to benefit the Bandon Community Youth Center, showcasing their best "bites" to attendees during the silent and live auctions. Founded in 1998, the Bandon Community Youth Center mission statement was updated in 2014, "To provide opportunities for youth and families to learn, grow, and experience success." The center currently runs "After School Homework Help" at their facility M-Th, and with a grant from the Oregon Community Foundation provides after school math tutoring at the local middle school for grades 4-5 and 7-8, also M-Th. Family engagement activities were added this year, including a Pollinator Planting Day, where families could enjoy a free lunch, learn about pollinators, and pot their own plants to take home. Research shows that students are more likely to experience academic success with peer mentors and when families are involved. In summer months the center provides a series of summer camps with focus on STEAM and outdoor activities. The Bite of Bandon is the major fundraiser of the year for this organization featuring generous donations from local, regional, and national businesses and organizations in the auctions, ranging from local shops and city utilities to gift certificates, to Disney Park Hopper Passes for 4, and more. Tickets are available February 1 from the Bandon Mercantile in Old Town and Bandon True Value/Radio Shack counter.

Charissa Stokes, Director, 541-347-8336 or by email: bandonyouth@gmail.com Kim Russell, Board Secretary, 541-297-6403