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January 18, 2006Boys and Girls Clubs face closureBudget shortfall to blame; March opening planned
Viranna Croy, 7, and Rowan Estenik, 10, play pool at the Traverse City Boys and Girls Club on Wellington Street after school. The club will be closing its doors on Friday along with two other locations for the next two months. "We've been doing it for a few days," Wilcox, the club's operations director, said about discussing the slew of recent changes. "I asked the kids on Friday whether any of them had ever broken a bone or been stranded in a broken car. Now we'll talk about how those things eventually get fixed." The local Boys and Girls Clubs will close its three locations for the next two months at the end of the day Friday. Leaders will spend that time devising a plan to address about $100,000 in debt, rising expenses and a projected $50,000 shortfall in revenues like donations and grants. The closure announcement followed staff cuts the club's board of directors approved last week. James Dawson, chairman of the club's board of directors, said the reduced staffing met the minimum recommended by the national Boys and Girls Clubs of America, but current employees and board members didn't believe it was enough. "We have to look at the safety and well-being of the kids," he said. The nonprofit club's annual budget is roughly $350,000 and it serves about 2,000 youth in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties with programs that foster education, leadership, recreation and life skills. The local Boys and Girls Clubs, established in 1992, also shut down for three months in 1997 to reassess its financial situation before re-opening in 1998. Dawson said club leaders will start aggressively fundraising, studying the best way to restructure and deciding which site is the best at which to resume operations. A local donor drive will coincide with the Boys and Girls Clubs annual, nationwide campaign. "The campaign money would be used to reopen and cover staff payroll," he said. Plans call for reopening the most viable of the three locations during the last week of March, when local schools let out for spring break. In the meantime, the club is working with the local United Way and schools to help place youth in alternate programs. Wilcox, who broke the news to members Monday, is hopeful the community recognizes the club's value and steps up with support. "I just work here, and it's changed my life," she said. See related story:
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