Local Boys and Girls Club plans moving ahead
Temporary facility could open in December

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Monday, October 13, 2008 10:21 AM PDT

Ontario — With crime and graffiti appearing more and more commonplace in Ontario, many residents feel area youth need a more constructive place to spend their time.

The Boys and Girls Club of Western Treasure Valley seeks to fill that void, with a temporary facility slated to begin offering programs in December.

BGWTV Executive Director Sunny Haynes said she is currently looking for a temporary place but does not have a site set in stone as of yet.

“We have $25,000 more to raise by the end of the year,” she said.

Membership in the temporary club is currently free with area children able to apply through membership drives.

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“We’ve done one membership drive,” she said. “We’ll do a couple more. People can call me and give me their address, and I’ll send the membership forms.”

Once the temporary facility opens, she said, membership will be $10 a year.

Haynes said she plans to have the center open from 2:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m., depending on what options are available at the site. She said the site will be open “right after school,” which will allow children who do not have anyone waiting for them at home to have a place to go.

Haynes said programs will begin Dec. 1 and will provide tutoring, technology programs, arts and crafts, a game room and physical education. The tutoring, she said, will be provided by “a huge volunteer base.”

The technology programs, she said, will teach students how to use Microsoft Office, Powerpoint and even how to build their own games.

The Boys and Girls clubs receive grants from the Microsoft Corporation and Best Buy’s Club Tech, which helps to provide software.

“I’m in the process of applying for a lot of different grants,” Haynes said.

Another way the club is raising funds is through community donations.

In a letter sent to the organization, Fruitland-based Woodgrain Millwork Contribution Committee Chairman Evelyn Dame said the program is “much needed in our community and will positively impact our families.” Woodgrain Millwork provided the Boys and Girls Club with a $30,000 donation in December.

Bank of the West Ontario branch manager Amanda Anderson also spoke highly of the planned Boys and Girls Club.

“I really think that it’s a great idea because our kids around here don’t have much to do,” she said.

She also said the Boys and Girls Club’s national presence helped in her branch’s decision to make a $1,000 donation last year. The Boys and Girls Club of America has more than 4,300 club locations serving 4.8 million boys and girls in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and on military bases around the world. Club membership is 65 percent minority, with a primary age range between 7 and15 years old.

Haynes said the idea was first presented in 2007 by the Harney/Malheur Community Action Agency. The agency surveyed community members and learned they wanted to see a program like this. Out of 370 respondents in Malheur County, 62 percent said the area needed after-school programs and 65 percent said positive youth activities were needed.

Those interested in donating to the organization can call Haynes at (541) 889-4317, or mail donations to 1178 S.W. Fourth St. #2, Ontario, OR 97914. Haynes also said the Boys and Girls Club of Western Treasure Valley’s Web site is also able to accept donations at bgcwtv.org.

Haynes said a new facility will cost about $1 million, though she said she is also looking at other sites that can be refurbished to serve as a Boys and Girls Club.