Boys & Girls Club renovation positive step

Morning News
Published: June 25, 2008

The $1.4 million expansion and renovation of the Florence Boys & Girls Club has expanded the facility from 14,000 square feet to 22,000 square feet.

Six classrooms, a large teaching kitchen and game room have been added while the gym has been totally renovated.

The expansion increases the building capacity from 73 to 250 youths.

Because of that, the club — which has an attendance of 135 youths a day during the school year and 220 a day during the summer — is now able to recruit new members for the first time in 10 years.

“It’s all about serving kids, and you need space to serve kids,” Neal Zimmerman, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Pee Dee, said during the facility’s grand opening.

For more than a hundred years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America have been helping young people — as the organization’s mission statement reflects — reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens.

The clubs are open every day with full-time, trained youth development professionals and volunteers serving as role models and mentors.

The clubs are often filled with kids who cannot afford other positive, productive activities and would otherwise be alone.

Nearly 5 million boys and girls attend 4,300 clubs in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and U.S. military bases around the world.

Among those 5 million youths, 65 percent are from minority families, 55 percent are male and 76 percent are between the ages of 7 and 15 when positive role models and activities are perhaps needed most to shape a child’s future.

From country singer Rhett Akins to actress Jennifer Lopez to fashion designer Martin Wong to NBA legend Michael Jordan, the Boys and Girls Clubs alumni Hall of Fame is a who’s who of people who have succeeded in business, entertainment and sports.

In the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s “Philanthropy 400” report, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America has ranked No. 1 among youth organizations 12 years running and ranks 16th among all nonprofit organizations.

It’s clear that the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s mission of turning at-risk youths into productive members of society is being accomplished. And it’s also clear that the way the organization goes about accomplishing its mission should be a model for similar organizations to follow.

The $1.4 million expansion and renovation of the Florence Boys & Girls Club is well deserved and will help our community as a whole.