Sparking New Futures: BNI Foundation's Partnership with Youth 71Five Ministries

No one could have predicted just how far the ripple effects of one grant would travel when a local BNI chapter connected with Youth 71Five Ministries in Southern Oregon. Shane Skirvin, a 71Five team member who has been part of BNI for four years, hosts his chapter at one of 71Five's own buildings — a fitting home base for an organization built entirely around community and connection.

71Five VoTech is an Oregon BOLI-certified, pre-apprenticeship, career-exploration program that gives young people ages 16–24 a real, hands-on start toward a family-wage career. Through project-based learning, life-skills training, and a remarkable 1-instructor to-3-student ratio, 71Five doesn't just teach trades. It teaches young people that someone believes in them.

The BNI Foundation's Givers Gain Grant went toward something deceptively simple: a horizontal band saw for the program's welding trade. But the difference it has made is anything but small. The saw the students had been using before was smaller, temperamental, and threw sparks — a real limitation for young people just learning to trust themselves around heavy equipment. The new horizontal band saw is stronger, faster, fully adjustable, and hydraulic, with oil cooling that keeps cuts clean and spark-free. It allows students to purchase steel in full lengths and cut it to the exact sizes they need, saving the program both time and money.

Since the saw arrived, more than 160 students have trained on it in the welding trade alone. It has quickly become the centerpiece of the fabrication shop, inspiring students to go beyond basic welding and start designing and building projects of their own. And the ripple effects are already visible: one young woman from the program recently entered a local pipeline apprenticeship, and a young man who came to 71Five with a difficult past is now working for a roofing company. These are not just statistics — they are futures that have changed direction.

Currently, 28 students are enrolled in the VoTech training program, with hundreds more expected to come through in the years ahead. Each student's full course would normally cost approximately $4,100 — but thanks to generous donors and partners, 71Five is able to offer this training entirely free of charge. As Executive Director Bud Amundsen put it, "You are not only helping train the next generation of skilled workers but also breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness for youth and their families." That impact reaches far beyond the shop floor, into the businesses and communities of Southern Oregon.

What sets 71Five apart isn't just the trade training — it's the community built around it. Every class ends with a shared meal, because the team believes real growth happens when people break bread together. Yet food remains one of the program's greatest ongoing needs; food scarcity touches nearly every young person 71Five serves, a program that reaches over 1,200 youth annually. Individual clubs within the program often build their own wish lists — something as simple as a pumpkin pie for a holiday meal — to make sure no student goes without.

At the BNI Foundation, our philosophy is about more than writing a check — it's about investing in people, tools, and communities that create lasting change. The story of 71Five VoTech's horizontal band saw is proof of what's possible when a chapter's relationships turn into action: one machine, over 160 students trained, and futures — like a new pipeline apprentice and a young roofer — being built one weld at a time.

We're proud to stand behind Youth 71Five Ministries and grateful for partners like Shane Skirvin and Teresa Hoyle who make connections like this possible. Together, we're not just funding equipment — we're forging futures.

Learn more about Youth 71Five Ministries at 71Five.org.