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Boys, Girls Club needs a big boost By JONEL ALECCIA It may have been Sue Kupillas' birthday Oct. 1, but it was the Boys and Girls Club of the Rogue Valley that came away with a gift. Well-wishers celebrating the Jackson County commissioner's 60th birthday donated $1,900 to help the youth agency reopen its White City afterschool program. "I told everyone 'No gifts.' Instead, bring your pennies, nickles and dimes and help us launch this drive," Kupillas said. "Everyone was very generous." The birthday donations, contributed by about 65 or 70 party-goers, were combined with a $650 anonymous gift and about $200 left over from Kupillas' election campaign. All told, it amounts to $2,750, just a fraction of the $40,000 organizers estimate it will take to renovate and reopen the White City site forced to close after funding cuts last December. Every penny helps the agency that combined chapters in Jackson and Josephine counties in July to form a regional club serving 7,000 children. Executive Director Dick Hanlin had hoped to reopen the White City program that served an estimated 400 children by December, but that date might have to be delayed, he said. Hoped-for funds from a $100,000 federal "Drug Free Communities" grant were not awarded to Jackson County, which would have routed money to the local Boys and Girls Club. "For us, it would have meant about $60,000 for the first year," Hanlin said. "In my mind, it just means that now we won't be dependent on government sources of income." Finding alternative operating funds is imperative before the club reopens, agree Hanlin and Kupillas. Former administrators of the club blamed the Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.