Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project to Celebrate 20th Anniversary

The Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project will be holding a celebration for its 20th anniversary on Saturday, September 28th at Cragun’s Legacy Courses in East Gull Lake.

For two decades, the Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project, is a non-profit organization that uses restorative justice practices as an alternative to the traditional juvenile court system, has been committed to helping the community. The goal of restorative justice is to give a voice to the victims, the offenders, and the community by shifting the focus from punishment to repairing the harm and building the community.

For the 20th anniversary celebration, LARJP Executive Director Brian Andrews is looking back on all the effort that has been put in by everyone involved with the organization.

He said, “I’ve been here for four and a half years, but when I started I read through every piece of the history of the organization, and looking at what an effort it took to just get established, and looking at the number of people, that’s what really, really impacts me is just thinking about that, every referral is a family, which is a part of a community, and knowing the impact this program has had.”

The celebration event is aimed to raise funds for LARJP, spread awareness, and share success stories from the past two decades. Insights into the near future will also be shared, along with ways for the community to get involved.

“There’s going to be an opportunity to really pledge or to be a part of the next 20 years, as well as hearing about the impact that we’ve had year over year and what that really rolls out to look like for our county, but now our region, state and country as well,” Andrews explained.

Brainerd Lakes Area nonprofits have a strong presence throughout the community. Mindful of that, LARJP knows there is only so much money to go around, and because of that, the organization is beyond grateful for those who support their work.

“Times are tight right now is the reality, right?” asked Andrews. “And every time somebody makes a donation, whether it’s a – well, it’s a dollar or if it’s an in-kind donation or a large grant, we understand that they had to make a serious decision, an important big decision in order to choose Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project, and we’re very grateful to every one of our donors and the community that supports us.”

The event is free to attend, but registration is required. A form to register can be found on the Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project website.