Over the 4th of July weekend, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast’s North Greenwood Club was broken into. The criminal stole all of the computers, televisions, the Wii system, and games. The criminal even stooped as low as to pilfer the children’s afternoon snacks. The Boys & Girls Club of the Suncoast is determined not to let it ruin the summer of these underprivileged children, and so are the Tampa Bay Rays.
After the Boys & Girls Club called on the community to help out, the Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Foundation stepped up to the plate. Team officials will present a check for $5,000 on Monday. This is very generous and hopefully the first of many other generous donations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast.
The Boys & Girls Club is planning on getting a security system to ensure their space - and the children - stay safe.
The North Greenwood neighborhood in Clearwater has been plagued with crime issues and poverty. However, many community organizations are hard at work alleviating these issues. Through their persistence and courage in trying moments, such as this weekend’s incident, they are able to accomplish the positive change so desperately needed.
Remember, it is because of Boys & Girls Clubs that children have grown up to become Rhodes Scholars and United States Presidential Scholars instead of criminals like the person who stole from them.
About the Boys & Girls Club of the Suncoast:
The Boys & Girls Clubs of America movement came to Pinellas County in November 1959 with the founding of the Boys Club of Pinellas Park by Police Chief Maurice L. MacTarsney and Margret “Peg” Nunn. The Club began operating in January 1960 in an old frame building leased from the City of Pinellas Park with its 1st executive director, James S Hart Jr. The Boys Clubs of Pinellas, Inc. was chartered in August 1967 when its second club opened at the Northside location in St. Petersburg. In May 1970, at the urging of both the United Way and the Boys Clubs of America, the Boys Clubs of Pinellas County, Inc. was organized. In 1991, the Boys Clubs of Pinellas County opened its programs to all youth, forming Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast (BGCS), as we know it today, now with eleven locations. BGCS under the leadership of Carl R. Lavender, Jr. has the goal “to influence the behavior and the attitudes of each individual boy and girl in a wholesome manner.” The sole purpose of BGCS is to provide children, youth, their families and the community opportunities for safe, structured, well supervised after school and summer youth programs, with an emphasis on leadership, education and self sufficiency. The organization has proven its commitment to service for children and community members with innovative and progressive programming and opportunities. Supporters of Boys & Girls Clubs include government politicians, law enforcement agency representatives, financial institutions, and education boards, among other concerned citizens. To find out more or to help, visit www.bgcsuncoast.org.
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