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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2020)
APRIL 24, 2020, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3 Gaming club staying connected online ministries. There are usually 30 or so participants on any given live stream according to Harris. “I would say like 75% [of participants] are local Sa- lem-Keizer kids,” he said. Originally, most of the club members came from Harris’ youth group (Harris is a Youth Pastor at Lakepoint Commu- nity Church) but gradually it evolved from that circle. With the goal of widening their reach, Satellite Gaming Club broke off from Lakepoint and became its own non-prof- it ministry. Harris said they’ve reached from Silverton to Ida- ho. “We want it to be something that is outside of the church world ... we want people to know that you don’t have to agree with our foundation in order to hang out with us,” Harris said. He also said lots of times By LAUREN MURPHY Of the Keizertimes When Jamie Harris created Satellite Gaming Club for stu- dents, he intended for them to physically gather together as a community. Recent social dis- tancing measures have called for a Plan B. Like many other group ad- visors, Harris is reaching out to his students through social media, amongst other avenues. The main source of connec- tion comes through the gaming platform, Twitch. Twitch provides a space for gamers to play games together, watch other people play games and more. “It’s like YouTube of the nerd culture I suppose,” Harris said. The club is hosting live streams from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday. They host events for YoungLife on Mon- days and work with other local students engage in the program and have no idea that the foun- dation is faith-based. “We want to keep our rela- tionship with the public school system what it should be, just an extracurricular option for kids regardless of what background they have,” Harris said. Now that they’ve found the online format to be sustainable, the club is going to start pro- moting itself on social media. Harris had a lot he wanted to tell the members of the Sat- ellite Gaming community. He wanted them to know they are loved and he urged them to stay healthy and connected. “In summary I would tell these kids, know that you are loved, take care of yourself and if you don’t know how to take care of yourself reach out to us and we might be able to give you some advice,” he said, though he noted that adults are still fi guring things out too. File Jamie Harris (right), founder of Satellite Gaming, has kept the after school club meeting through a Twitch channel. He urged people to check in with one another – through a phone call, letter, or text mes- sage – to make sure the people in our lives are being taken care off. “Just show up right now. That’s a lot of what we need,” Harris said. Interested students can fi nd the club at www.twitch.tv/sat- ellite_gaming. SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS These Salem and Keizer businesses are off ering special services during the COVID-19 shutdown. TAKE OUT -or- DELIVERY 11 am – 8:30 pm Need Cash in a Hurry? We offer short-term loans to help you in times of need. Bring in your valuables and we assess the value of each item, providing you with the cash you need that day. Dans Pawnshop Inc. AMAZING SELECTION OF JEWELRY, ELECTRONICS, YARD EQUIPMENT, & MORE! 503-393-7145 • FIGAROS.COM • 5460 River Rd N TRY OUR SPECIALS 2 MEALS / $ 25 4 MEALS / $ 40 3380 RIVER ROAD N, KEIZER — LICENSE #P258 503-390-CASH You To Our Loyal Custom k n a er s Th 4415 River Rd N Keizer • copper-creek.net • Follow Us on Facebook DELIVERY 11am los dos to CLOSE Jalisco Style hermanos MEXICAN RESTAURANT TAKE OUT - OR- DELIVERY within 5 miles KEIZER CALL 503.390.0923 CALL 503.393.1800 3590 River Road N, Keizer SOUTH SALEM CALL 503.540.5537 5024 River Rd N 3690 Commercial St SE Take-Out: 11 am – 9 pm Delivery: 4 pm – 9 pm Take-Out: 11 am – 9 pm Delivery: 11 am – 9 pm OPEN FOR YOU! YOUR AD HERE Monday – Friday: 8 am to 6 pm Saturday: 8 am to 5 pm Please respect social distancing in our store PARKING LOT PICK-UP AVAILABLE CALL (503) 393-5450