By Lee Bratcher/OC Monitor
HARTFORD, Ky. — The Ohio County Chamber of Commerce learned about how it could help bring a Boys & Girls Club to Ohio County at its March membership meeting.
The Chamber met for its March membership meeting Tuesday at the Render Center in Hartford. The Render Center is the former Wayland Alexander Elementary School and the proposed site for a Boy & Girls Club for Ohio County. The speaker for the meeting was Andre Arrington, the Director of Organizational Development at Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Andre Arrington, Director of Organizational Development at Boys & Girls Clubs of America, spoke to the Chamber of Commerce about opening a Boys & Girls Club in Ohio County. (Photo by Dustin Bratcher/OC Monitor.)
Before the Chamber members heard from Arrington, they enjoyed a delicious meal provided by Perdue Farms, Hometown IGA and Slick Back Outdoors.
After eating, the Chamber handed out its first quarter Chamber Member of Excellence Award to Fuller Physical Therapy. Each quarter the Chamber selects a Chamber Member of Excellence Award recipient and each winner will be the nominated for the Chamber Member of the Year Award at the annual Christmas Gala.
Arrington was introduced to the Chamber and he spoke about the Boys & Girls Club of America, and more specifically, about the prospect of opening a Boys & Girls Club in Ohio County.
For around 18 months, a group of Ohio County residents have worked on bringing a Boys & Girls Club to Ohio County. The Ohio County Boys & Girls Club would be an extension of the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club in Owensboro.
The Ohio County Board of Education has very generously allowed the Club, the use the Render Center as Ohio County’s Boys & Girls Club. The Board of Education will also pay for the Club’s utilities and provide bussing for students to the Club after school.
Arrington explained to the Chamber members the Boys & Girls Club should be thought of as a “business partner” to the Chamber.
“Our business is young people,” Arrington said. “They’re the future employees of businesses and future business owners. Most importantly for us, because (young people can be) an 18 year investment, we need your investment of time, treasure and talent.”
Arrington explained the Boys & Girls Club provides a safe place for children to go after school and will offer programs to help children become future contributors to society. Programs will focus on academic success, healthy lifestyles and character and citizenship. The Club also offers scholarships for those moving on to postsecondary education.
“If we get the kids early enough, that’s how we shape, mold, and develop their moral compass to be the caring adults and concerned citizens, we all hope they will all grow into,” Arrington said.
Arrington ended his talk by taking questions from the audience. Steve Winkler, Chief Executive Officer for the Cliff Hagan’s Boys & Girls Club, helped answer questions about what Ohio County would offer at a Boys & Girls Club. Winkler spoke to the Ohio County Fiscal Court in September 2013 about bringing a Boys & Girls Club to Ohio County.
Kids aged 6-18 will be accepted at the Boys & Girls Club. The Club will be open from 2:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. weekdays during school and from 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. in the summer. A lunch and snack will be provided to children in the summer and during the school year a snack will be provided. The Club will not take children home.
According to Winkler a typical day at the Club consists of 30-45 minutes of game time upon arrival, then around 45 minutes to one hour of homework time broken down into age groups, then a healthy snack and at the end of the day there will programming for all the children in areas such as healthy lifestyles, academic success or character and citizenship. By 6:30 p.m. the child will be ready for pick up.
The fee to join the Boys & Girls Club was just $12 per year.
The Club will work with the school system to find children who may be struggling with an area of study, such as reading or math. While at the Club, those children will get extra help and attention with the problem area.
A Club director will be hired and there will be around 10 part-time employees. The Club also hopes to attract many volunteers.
According to Winkler, the yearly budget for the Ohio County Boys & Girls Club will be around $130,000-$140,000. There will also need to be around $50,000 worth of renovations done to the Render Center to be ready to house the Boys & Girls Club. Winkler expects around 700-800 members a year.
To be able to keep the yearly membership fee so low and pay for expenses, the Boys & Girls Club relies on donations from local businesses and the community at large. The donations are tax free and can be spread out over the course of several years.
Winkler asked Hollie Lindsey, the chairwoman of the county’s Boys & Girls Club advisory group, to talk about what was needed from the Chamber members.
Lindsey explained the advisory group hasn’t held any big fundraisers yet, but have spoken to many in the business community.
Ohio County would need to have around $300,000 pledged to the Boys & Girls Club before the Club could open. The $300,000 will pay for the Club’s operations for about three years. Over $100,000 has already been pledged by members of the business community over three years. Lindsey said the advisory group hoped to open the Boys & Girls Club in January 2020, but it depends on the generosity of the community and business leaders.
“This isn’t something that we’ve come up with overnight,” Lindsey said of the 18 months of planning. “We’re excited. It is Ohio County’s club and it’s up to us to decide how we want to shape things, what we want to do for the kids that will be using our club.”
Fuller Physical Therapy received the Chamber Member of Excellence Award at Tuesday’s Chamber of Commerce meeting. (Photo by Dustin Bratcher/OC Monitor.)