Hollister
– In an effort to provide after-school activities to the
community’s low-income youth, County Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz
and a handful of interested citizens are looking into the
possibility of founding a local Boys and Girls Clubs of America
chapter.
Hollister – In an effort to provide after-school activities to the community’s low-income youth, County Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz and a handful of interested citizens are looking into the possibility of founding a local Boys and Girls Clubs of America chapter.
“The Boys and Girls Club isn’t just about hanging out in a room with some chairs and pool tables with nothing to do anymore,” said De La Cruz. “It’s about providing good programs at a reduced cost to kids who need them.”
Officials from the local chapter of the YMCA, however, are concerned that bringing in such a similar organization to theirs could dilute their fundraising base, just weeks after agreeing to purchase land for a new facility.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of America is a national organization that serves more than 4.5 million kids and teens, 64 percent of which come from minority families, according to the organization’s Web site, www.bgca.
org. The BGCA provides after-school sports and activities to kids who might not otherwise be able to afford such programs and be left roaming the streets.
“I’ve coached a lot of kids’ sports teams, and I keep seeing these kids who are 9 and 10 years old with a lot of talent and promise,” said De La Cruz. “But society has dropped the ball, and these kids wind up with nothing to do but join in gang activity.”
De La Cruz served as a mentor for the BGCA as a college student and thinks such an organization would be particularly valuable for the community’s poor and traditionally underserved Latino families. Many of these families live in his supervisorial district five, on Hollister’s west side.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of my constituents and they absolutely love the idea,” De La Cruz said. “They want a facility on the west side, not across town.”
The local chapter of the YMCA, however, is concerned that the formation of a BCGA chapter might deplete its own fundraising sources. Only a few weeks ago, the Hollister School District Board of Trustees voted to sell 7.5 acres of land to the Y for construction of a $13 million facility.
“We have our concerns of course, because we’re just going into our capital campaign for a new facility,” said Lou Bettencourt, executive director of the YMCA. “This is a small community, and at this time I don’t know if it can support two such organizations.”
The YMCA and the BGCA have a few fundamental differences in how they are operated and their services. The YMCA typically offers programs on a fee basis, with discounts offered to YMCA members – Y programs can cost anywhere between $25 and several hundred dollars, depending on what is being offered. BCGA offers most, if not all programming free of charge to its members, who purchase membership cards for a fee between $5 and $15. The BCGA offers programs exclusively for school-aged kids and teens, while the Y has classes and activities for kids, adults and families.
“There’s nothing wrong with the YMCA. They’re doing a wonderful job,” said De La Cruz. “But they’re serving a totally different class of individual; I don’t know how many low-income Hispanic kids would actually go there if there were a big YMCA.”
Despite the Y’s fee based system, Bettencourt pointed out that between 25 and 33 percent of YMCA participants receive some form of financial aid, which can cover 40, 50 percent or the entire cost of the program.
The first step to bringing the BGCA to San Benito County is to mount a feasibility study, which De La Cruz estimates will cost between $20,000 and $30,000.
The study would gauge whether the community can, in fact, support both a YMCA and a Boys and Girls Club, and help a steering committee determine where to look for funding. De La Cruz also hopes to arrange tours of the Salinas Boys and Girls Club for local community leaders to learn about what it takes to run a successful chapter.
“If it turns out that the community doesn’t want both, that’s fine,” said De La Cruz. “We can turn our efforts to the county and city level, to work on new parks and sports facilities for our kids. Either way, that’s my No. 1 priority.”
County Supervisor Anthony Botelho, who was involved with the organization as a child, said he was pleased that the possibility of bringing the BGCA to the county is being explored.
“Both of my parents worked when I was a kid, so right after school I’d go home, change my clothes, and head to the Boys Club – and we had a great time,” he said. “I hope Supervisor De La Cruz can bring some more information forward soon, and I support him in any efforts to create activities for our youngsters. That’s the people’s obligation.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
