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Is there a Boys and Girls Club in Lemoore's future?
Of course Tyson and Ali were champions in the world of boxing, both winning world boxing titles. Powell was the Army’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs as well as Secretary of State for President George W. Bush. Rice also served her country as Secretary of State. Washington is the premier actor of his time, even winning an Oscar or two.
But really the defining commonality is that there were all, in one way or another, associated with Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and in large part these men, and others before them, had their lives defined by their participation in Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Powell served on the board of directors of Boys and Girls Clubs. Rice currently is the vice chairperson. The others got their early start as members of a Boys and Girls Club.
Enter Lemoore Councilmember Eddie Neal, a longtime resident of Lemoore who wants to start a Boys and Girls Club in Lemoore and help instill in Lemoore’s youth that sense of competence, usefulness, and belonging that people like Washington says forged his early years, and helped him to become the man he is today.
Washington has been a national spokesman for Boys and Girls Club for 20 years.
Neal is making an effort to bring the organization to Lemoore, teaming with Boys and Girls Club of the Sequoias Executive Director Joe Engelbrecht to make Neal’s dream come true. But it’s going to take work.
“I get six or seven calls a year asking about starting a new Boys and Girls Club,” said Engelbrecht as he sipped an ice tea at the Vineyard Inn last week. “Eddie has been assembling a committee of four or five people,” he said in order to get the ball rolling. “We’ve even reached out to community leaders.”
Engelbrecht said there is a need in Lemoore. “There are probably four or five hundred children in this community who aren’t receiving any after-school services,” he said. And that’s what Boys and Girls Clubs is all about.
According to the Boys and Girls Club mission, in every community, boys and girls are left to find their own recreation and companionship in the streets. An increasing number of children are at home with no adult care or supervision. Young people need to know that someone cares about them. Boys and Girls Clubs offer that and more. Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.
Boys & Girls Clubs are a safe place to learn and grow – all while having fun. It is the place where great futures are started each and every day.
The Boys and Girls Club off the Sequoias is administered in Tulare County and headquartered in Exeter. It currently has 16 sites in Tulare County and if Lemoore manages to get a club it will be the first in Kings County.
Neal said his interest in a Boys and Girls Club was sparked last year when he spoke to a group of kids. “I talked to Jamison High School kids last year,” he said. “And they wanted something like this.”
He also recalls meeting a former Boys Club alum who also credits his time with the youth club as inspiring him. “I met with Evander Holyfield with Lorenzo (Neal) and he said we needed a Boys and Girls Club.
Engelbrecht, 56, a former corporate executive, has served as the executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Sequoias for 10 years said there are many reasons why the clubs enrich the lives of young people and enhance the community.
“They provide world class programs and curriculum,” he said. They receive academic tutoring, physical activity and of course a sense of purpose by working on character development.
The 16 clubs in Tulare currently serve about 1,200 kids a day, ranging in age from elementary age to high school. A typical day begins after the regular school day when a typical youngster arrives at his or her local center, gets a snack, does a little homework, plays a game and gets involved in a project, such as creating a website.
“Behind the scenes there is a lot going on. But first of all, let’s make sure you’re doing well in school,” said Engelbrecht who said that the typical student gets all this for about $10 a year. The fee is more of an effort to empower the youngster than charge a fee.
In many locations Boys and Girls Clubs are closely aligned with local school districts. In fact, a youngster cannot enter the club facility unless he attended school that day. “If they don’t go to school they can’t come to the club,” said Engelbrecht. “Kids love it. If they don’t get there by bus after school, they’re running to it,” he said.
Such organizations also do wonders for the community. “Boys and Girls Clubs raise the value of real estate because they lower the crime rate,” he said. “The quality of life goes up in a community, not down.”
What’s it going to take? Both Neal and Engelbrecht acknowledge the difficulties in starting a new club in Lemoore. It takes about $100,000 per year to keep operating. A facility or site needs to be located. However, once established and a Lemoore club becomes an element of the Sequoias Chapter, it will be eligible for grants and fundraising opportunities. The Tulare organization is a 501 c 3 IRS non-profit.
