Boys and Girls Club will continue to thrive
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The opinion and feedback from my wife has helped me through so much, and this time I have to grin as I share my thoughts with you and her. The feedback was whether I should use the term “roller coaster” or “washboard.” So here it is, dear, “the ol’ shock absorbers just ain’t what they used to be.”
Seems the older we get the faster time flies and those hills turn into radical bumps and they’re coming at us one right after another — yikes … washboards!
The past couple of weeks have been a washboard of events and emotions at this office. Not that it’s unusual in these circumstances; but when you’re personally involved it magnifies the situation. That’s what happens when someone has been in the same occupation for a number of years, over nine in this instance, and decides to move on.
Boys & Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County was here before I came aboard and it no doubt will be here after I depart early in November to pursue another of my favorite interests.
That being said, the club would not have survived without all the people who surrounded it with their encouragement, caring and help. Without that support it would have been impossible for our staff, board and volunteers to make a lasting difference. This perpetual tsunami of kids who continually roll through childhood in our service area would not be the same.
From past experience I know that the need to thank everyone for their help brings one to the temptation of trying to list them all. Please forgive me for not attempting that task because I also know from experience, there is always a name or two unintentionally omitted and I don’t want to do that. I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically, with all the humility I can muster, thank you for your generous help.
These kids should be the focus of this conversation, so please give your caring attention to the future of Boys & Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County. The club will always need your help. Through no fault of their own, kids will continue to be born. Lots of them will join our club when they’re six years old. The following facts are important to know:
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America (our charter organization) is not a money tube. It is up to the all-volunteer board of directors to see that the club is fiscally sound. Funding has to come from a variety of sources. Operational funding is necessary every single day.
• Boys & Girls Club is for all children between 6 and 18 years old.
• The club cannot operate without staff. Staffing is the most expensive part of running the club. We maintain a club member/staff ratio based on safely running programs here at the club.
• Kids who join as a member are not “required” to attend. That’s the beauty of the program: kids are given choices and most of them “want” to be at the club.
• The club is more about “character-building” than any other thing. We encourage education and have a homework program but we want them to get along with each other and grow up to be responsible, respectful, trustworthy, caring citizens with a moral compass.
These club doors have seen hundreds of children during my stay here but it would not have been the same without the dedicated staff that was here to greet them. Some staff members spent more hours than they were paid for, spent their own money providing supplies or other things for the kids and many went home and continue to go home at night worrying about this child or that child because of circumstances or family troubles the child is going through. Every staff member, present or past, is a special kind of person.
The board is diligently working to find my replacement. I leave you with two wonderful, enthusiastic new unit directors who manage a tremendously caring staff. With your help the club will continue to help families and kids. Everything will be fine.
So I want to share one last thing with you before I turn in my keys and take my lawnmower home. I had the pleasure of working with my son Lee for the past five and a half years. He also decided to move on recently. He wrote a letter to our board of directors that expressed so many of my feelings it was almost scary. Listen to the plea he made to our board members. “I urge you, please, to not let the club ever close its doors. This valley needs the club more than most people will ever realize. Thank you once again for employing me. My experiences here have helped me grow as an individual more than you will ever know. May good fortune and light always shine on this organization as it truly is a beacon of hope in this oh so crazy world.”
Frankly, all I can say is “ditto” and thank God for this club. Again, these kids are just born, they have no control over what hand they’re dealt. Yes, the parents are first to take responsibility but if that isn’t working the kids are forced to depend on the school or social programs. That sometimes works but after that, well, we hope they will somehow find their way to the Boys & Girls Club where kids from all social, economic and cultural backgrounds are welcome. The club gives all kids a safe, dependable place to be during the most critical time of day. So if you can, please find a way to help the board keep the Boys & Girls Club open in Ronan and Polson for our most cherished resource, our kids.
