NEW LONDON, Wis. (WFRV) – Cherry Starr was in Northeast Wisconsin checking in on Rawhide Youth Services, an organization that has meant so much to her and her late husband Bart Starr over the years. 

Rawhide Youth Services provides emotional, behavioral, and mental support for at-risk and troubled youth and has eight locations throughout Wisconsin. The Starr’s co-founded the organization and have been a part of it since 1965.

Bart Starr, Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer and Super Bowl-winning quarterback, passed away in 2019.

 “Never in a million years did I dream it would become the community it is today, I know Bart is up there smiling down on us right now,” says Cherry Starr.

Cherry Starr was in town to celebrate Rawhide Youth Services breaking ground on its Building Hope Capital Campaign groundbreaking ceremony.

There are three parts to the project.

The Starr Youth Home is already under construction. It will provide a family-centered therapeutic environment for residential youth and will be a 10,000-square-foot-facility. Rawhide Youth Services officials say the need is great right now in terms of youth that need help and guidance, and they aren’t able to help as many as they’d like at their current capacity. The Starr Youth Home will help with those problems.

The second part of the project is renovations to the organization’s welcome center. It includes resources, seminars, social gatherings, and training spaces.

The project will also expand on an existing space that honors the Starr family by creating a Bart and Cherry Starr Museum.

To date, Rawhide has raised about $5.5 million out of its $6 million goal for this project.

Miron Construction Co. is doing the building for the project. Sentry Insurance in Steven’s Point donated $1.5 million to the project.