A member of the St. Lawrence County Youth Advisory Board is asking the public to get involved in a debate over whether to cut the Youth Bureau funding from the 2012 St. Lawrence County budget.

Molly Yandoh, Winthrop, who is a Youth Conservation Corps coordinator, writes in a letter to the editor that there are other programs that cost more and serve far less people than the Youth Bureau does annually, and at very little cost to the county.

The full letter runs below:

To the Editor:

The Youth Bureau annually serves 24,674 per year at a county cost of $113,226. This comes with a cost of $4.59 per youth served. The Youth Bureau only uses 1/4th of 1% of the county budget.

How can the county eliminate the Youth Bureau department and continue to pay for a bus system that only provides service to 100 people annually for $469,000?

If the Youth Bureau is eliminated state taxpayer funding earmarked for St. Lawrence County will go back to state government in Albany. This does not make good fiscal sense!

Please support keeping the Youth Bureau in the 2012 St. Lawrence County Budget.

Please show your support by contacting your County Legislator.

The Youth Bureau provides funding to:

• Potsdam Recreation

• Potsdam Public Library

• Potsdam Jr. Hockey

• Potsdam Jr. Football League

• Brasher Stockholm Recreation

• Canton Free Library

• Canton Pee Wee Association, Inc.

• Canton Recreation

• Canton Adventures in Learning

• Clifton Fine Figures Skating Association

• Clifton Fine Youth Commission

• DeKalb Youth Program

• Heuvelton Youth Commission

• Edwards/ Russell Recreation

• Fowler Recreation

• Gouverneur Joint Recreation

• Gouverneur Books and the Bunch

• Gouverneur Youth Program

• Hammond Summer Youth Program

• Hermon Recreation Program

• Depeyster Youth Commission

• Hopkinton Recreation Program

• Lawrence Youth Recreation

• Lisbon Recreation Program

• Lisbon Youth Service Program

• Louisville Minor Hockey

• Louisville Youth Recreation

• Madrid Youth Recreation

• Massena Recreation

• Massena Therapeutic Recreation Program

• Norfolk Recreation

• Norwood Recreation

• Norwood Village Green

• Gouverneur Missoula Theatre Program

• Ogdensburg City Recreation Project

• Ogdensburg Boys and Girls Club

• Ogdensburg Command Performance

• Ogdensburg Minor Hockey, Inc.

• Ogdensburg Pee Wee Football

• Oswegatchie Youth Commission

• Parishville Recreation

• Piercefeild Recreation

• Richville Summer/ Winter Program

• Rossie Playground

• Tri-Town Minor Hockey

• Waddington After 4 Program

• Waddington Recreation

• St. Lawrence Health Initiative- SPORT

• St. Lawrence Probation Department

• YDDP Administration

• SDDP Administration

• SLCYB Youth Conservation Corps

• SLC Comm. Serv. Brigade/ Youth Conservation Corps

• SLCYB Advocacy and Training

• SLCYB Camp Scholarship

• SLCYB Workshop