Georgetown, Texas

Service Project Information and Volunteer Sign-Up

Background:  Located on 18^th Street about a block west of Austin Avenue, the Boys & Girls Club of Georgetown serves about 100 children daily who live within a few miles radius.  This facility serves as a safe haven for children after school and until their parents return from work (open 3-7 p.m. daily).  It is also open in the summer and on Saturdays, serving as a positive environment for children who might otherwise be at risk of falling in with the “wrong crowd.”  Many of the children come from families with a single parent and some live in subsidized housing.  Club “membership” costs $10 a year and involves adherence to a set of policies and behavior norms that members must follow.  Violators can be expelled but this is rare.  

Included in the club’s program is mandatory attendance at sessions focusing on substance and physical abuse.  This is sponsored by the national Boys & Girls Club organization.

The annual budget is $260,000 and comes from donations.  Special programs, especially for summer and Saturday sessions, are welcomed.  Sun City’s golf, fishing, softball, photograph, etc. club resources would be highly valued for field trips.  The club has a seventeen passenger van.      

Volunteers Needs:  Director Daniel Anstee states that his greatest immediate need is for mentors for middle school students.  There are about 30-35 of these members about equally split by gender.  Daniel stated that this would involve about 30-60 minutes a week in which the mentor would meet with the members and determine where they might need help.  Some may need input on their homework.  Others may need support in setting personal goals and outlining a plan to achieve them.  Our role would be to serve as a listener and to provide input these members might not otherwise be able to access. 

Beyond that role, Daniel invites us to provide other ideas for how we might support the club’s objectives.  Our standard Kiwanis background clearance is acceptable and would only be supplemented by a Boys & Girls Club application form to begin our involvement.

Committee Contacts:  For further informationand to sign up to help, please contact John Hopper, Pat Cole or Gordon Arnold.  We seek other Kiwanians who would like to join us in serving this role.  It is clearly consistent with our global Kiwanis mission and it extends the role played by our national organization in supporting this program.