It's the berries

Teen Challenge rehabilitates broken lives. That was the clear message for the many visitors to the organization's popular strawberry festival last week north of Cape Girardeau. Teen Challenge currently has more than 100 men overcoming addictions in a Christian-based program with a high success rate.

For years, Teen Challenge has relied on strawberry sales each spring to raise a major portion of the money needed to keep the operation going year-around. Last year's late spring and freezing temperatures all but wiped out the strawberries, leaving Teen Challenge scrambling for funds.

This year's strawberry growing season has been outstanding. The organizations expects to sell more than 35,000 quarts of the delicious, fresh-picked berries, mostly at a stand near Kingshighway. The stand has moved from its familiar location near Independence Street because of the street construction. This year the stand is at the Good Hope Street intersection with Kingshighway.

The stand opens at 9 a.m. each day and stays open until all of that day's berries are sold. That usually doesn't take very long, so get there early.

The Teen Challenge ministry is a success story that bears telling over and over. Show your support, and enjoy the strawberries.