DES MOINES, Iowa —

Focuss, a nonprofit organization in Des Moines, hosted a skating event at Skate South on Sunday to help young people transition from summer to fall and provide a temporary escape from mental health challenges.

The organization, which aims to empower youth with life skills, covered the costs of admission, skate rental, and food and drink, asking only for attendees to show up and enjoy themselves.

"There's a lot of heaviness going on right now. It's really heavy. And if you have someone that's dealing with mental illness or they might be depressed or have anxiety, getting together with a group and just having fun, having an escape, a way to get rid of that for even if it's just for a moment and just having fun and remembering what that feels like is how we're marrying i

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