Document text
Boys and Girls Club will close By Jonel Aleccia WHITE CITY � Families of hundreds of area kids will have to scramble to find after-school and vacation care starting Monday, when the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson County shuts down its White City site. The agency�s board of directors voted Thursday to close the program housed in a spanking-new building paid through a $550,000 community block grant. Ed Hanson, president of the board, said the closure was forced by more than $80,000 in cash shortfalls caused by a bingo contract canceled last spring. "We have cut our expenses as far as we can, but it�s not enough," said Hanson, noting that expenses at the site total $10,000 a month. "I was out there today and one of the little girls asked if I was the one closing the program," Hanson added Friday. "I felt like the Grinch who stole Christmas." That little girl is among some 400 White City children enrolled annually in after-school and summer programs. Every school day, about 60 kids show up for care. The move also cuts jobs for two staff members, Hanson said. In addition, registration fees will climb from $30 to $50 a year at Boys and Girls Club locations in Phoenix, Gold Hill and Central Point. Fees for specific programs such as basketball will rise from $30 to $40 a month. Organizers hope that the White City cuts, combined with the fee increases, will preserve the programs that grew from grass-roots beginnings to serve some 1,700 children annually in countywide after-school and summer programs. But the program closure complicates the real estate deal decreed by the state in 1997 when it granted the $550,000 community block grant to build the 4,500-square-foot building at 3275 Ave. G. The money was routed through the coffers of Jackson County, which now owns the building. It was built, however, on land owned by the Eagle Point School District. Terms of the grant stipulate that for the first five years of operation, the building must be used to serve low-income youth from the White City-Eagle Point area. Now it�s up to the school district to put new programs in place so the county won�t forfeit the funds, said Bill Jones, superintendent of the Eagle Point district. "We believe we can find very appropriate programs for local children," Jones said. "It�s up to us to dig deep to find ways to continue." Possible ideas include a preschool, Jones said. Meanwhile, working parents in White City who had come to depend on the Boys and Girls Club for care are left without options, said Debbie Beck, a longtime project organizer. "It�s going to create a serious hardship to the community," said Beck. "It�s really very sad and it�s happening very fast. They lost the bingo and it went downhill from there." In March, Cascade Bingo of White City declined to renew the Boys and Girls Club contract to run games two nights a week. Organizers of the bingo concession have refused to discuss the issue. The resulting shortfall of more than $80,000 forced the agency to consolidate administration and cut expenses. In August, executive director Greg Wicklem announced his resignation. The Boys and Girls Club is still considering options, including searching for a new executive director and pondering a possible merger with the Grants Pass chapter, Hanson said. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.