Center for Great Futures Opens to Grand Audience – Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence

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Center for Great Futures Opens to Grand Audience

07-09-18
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Nearly 50 years ago, the first Boys Club of Lawrence took shape in the hearts of a few loyal founders. Never could they have imagined the scene that took place Thursday afternoon when 400+ supporters gathered to cut the ribbon on the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence’s brand new facility, the Don & Beverly Gardner Center for Great Futures.

Only 13 months earlier – almost to the day – the same core group celebrated the building’s groundbreaking ceremony. A colossal amount of hard work by Mar Lan Construction, TreanorHL, Lawrence Public Schools, the Lawrence College & Career Center and numerous subcontractors got the remarkable facility up and running by the first day of teen programming on Aug. 16. Thursday, Boys & Girls Club was finally able to invite the public to visit. Among them was a prestigious group of guest speakers, including the President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Jim Clark, who flew in from Atlanta to attend the milestone moment.

“This is, in my mind, the most important event taking place in the United States of America today,” Clark said to a loud applause. “The reason it is so significant is because it’s about the future of this country. It’s about creating Great Futures for these teens and youth that will come through the doors of this beautiful facility every single day.”

Clark then introduced a big fan of his and of the Club, Destiny Savannah, to speak to the crowd. She attends Billy Mills Middle School and has been a member of Boys & Girls Club since kindergarten. She spoke with poise and confidence while sharing why she loves the Club.

“The reason that Boys & Girls Club is a great place is because everyone can be themselves and not care what people think about them,” Savannah said in her speech. “We take the no-bullying rule very seriously. The Teen Center is also a great place for teens because when you are there, there are lots of kids from different schools, so that makes you work on your social skills and come out of your shell a little bit.“

Colby Wilson, the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence CEO, led the proceedings. Since his arrival in 2012, Wilson has been determined to find a way to keep kids in the Club beyond fifth grade. Wilson, the board of directors and the BGCLK staff knew that the former Boys & Girls Club Teen Center (1520 Haskell Ave.) could only serve one percent of Lawrence’s middle school and high school students. The Center for Great Futures has the capacity to serve 250 teens per day.

“Club members – your role is to take advantage of this opportunity, use this place, trust the staff, experiment, try new things, find your passion, be the best you can be,” Wilson said in his speech. “You do this, and the world will be a better place. That’s why we built the Don and Beverly Gardner Center for Great Futures.”

Wilson and his staff were ecstatic at the turnout. More than 400 people came out to celebrate as the rain stayed away, including members of the Lawrence Public School Board, the Lawrence City Commission, surrounding Boys & Girls Clubs, current and former parents of Club kids and gracious donors who helped fund the project. Dr. Anthony Lewis, the Superintendent of Lawrence Public Schools, recognized the many USD 497 staff in the audience.

“In order for these young people to have Great Futures, it takes things like this event that is happening today,” Lewis said in his speech. “I will assure you that we will continue this partnership with the Boys & Girls Club because we can’t do it alone. The beautiful thing about this is we have the opportunity to work with these young people during the day, but what happens when they leave us? Continued greatness happens inside these walls.”

Lead donor Harry Herington was the finale on the list of speakers. He shared his passion for youth development and gave insight about why he and his wife, Cindy, donated to name the building after Lawrence legends Don “Red Dog” Gardner and his wife, Beverly. He then turned the microphone over one more time so that Monica Dittmer, Executive Director of the Center for Great Futures, could introduce the official ribbon cutter.

The (current) longest Club member is Avion Nelson at 10-consecutive years. He started at the Boys & Girls Club as a kindergartner and is now a freshman at Lawrence High School. As he prepared to cut, impactful members of the Boys & Girls Club staff, teen members and leadership donors stretched the ribbon across the teen entrance. One swift cut and the Center for Great Futures was officially opened. Teen members spread out into their favorite areas of the facility to welcome in visitors as they toured.

Anyone interested in taking a tour beyond the ribbon cutting ceremony date can do so by contacting Colby Wilson at cwilson@bgclk.org. Those wishing to enroll their middle or high school student can contact Director of Teen Services, Amy Hill, at ahill@bgclk.org.

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