Boys and Girls Club strong in Whitecourt

By Susan Hofforth

The Boys and Girls Club is one of our community’s greatest as-sets. An interview with Executive Director Cathy Branton re-vealed just how much they do for the children of Whitecourt.

The club works closely with many other organizations, corpora-tions, and the administration in Whitecourt to do the work they do and, in turn, support the club’s work. It also relies on the commu-nity for volunteers and donations.

The club is currently gearing up for the summer camps being of-fered. Plans are for nine camps of one-week each for the kids this summer. Each week will be planned around a specific theme. The first one is “Children of the Sea,” and it’s all about the ocean, and the things that live in the water. The camp will spend time in Rotary Park, but a field trip is planned to West Edmonton Mall to see the Sea Life Caverns there. Each weekly theme will include a field trip as well as science, math, crafts, and free play all designed around the topic.

The Teen Centre, operating out of Carlan Centre, is open daily and available with lots of great ongoing programming. The centre provides homework help, a job board to assist in the search for work, and helps with resume writing.

A wealth of programming takes place at the Teen Centre. Every-thing is completely free, and open to all teens. There are lunch-es, snacks and, sometimes, suppers available at the centre. The programming that is available includes music lessons, cooking lessons, sports, and ongoing programs such as the PROMise campaign, and the Be-YOU-tiful campaign. The PROMise cam-paign collects dresses, suits, and accessories for graduation, and gives them to the kids for free. “We know that grad is a very expensive time,” said Branton. The Be-YOU-tiful campaign teaches girls how to do their hair and makeup but, more im-portantly, works on techniques for self-esteem to build the beauty within. Specific programming for boys includes guitar lessons, cooking classes, and sports activities.

The Boys and Girls Club is always involved in programming around town. The club raises money by serving as bartenders at Christmas parties and functions around town, and hosting barbe-cues at outdoor events. The club is always looking for new op-portunities and for volunteers. The Easter egg hunt in Rotary Park each spring requires a lot of volunteers.

Currently, club members are selling raffle tickets with cash prizes of $5,000, $2,000 and $500. The tickets cost $20 each and you can get them at the club by phoning 780-778-6696 until the end of August. “We are only printing 2,000 tickets so your chances are good,” said Branton.

Also upcoming is September’s Party in the Park. The club will have a mechanical bull set up there again this year. Corporations can donate $100 per rider.

Did you know the Boys and Girls Club provides meals, puts kids on buses to go from schools to the centre, and provides services at the schools? Did you know the club provides bus passes and other important services, and works with the Lunchbox Program swapping bottles for apples? “The club works to bond our com-munity together,” said Branton. “Without each other, we could not do all the work that we do.”