Local Rotary Clubs to fund improvements for Boys and Girls Clubs
October 21, 2013: More young people in northwest Gainesville will have access to homework help, tutoring and other services thanks to funding from the Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation.
The Foundation has announced that the proceeds from the next Wild Game Feast fundraiser will be donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Alachua County, which will use the funds to renovate the organization’s northwest campus.
‘We’re very pleased to be partnering with an organization that contributes so much to the community and makes such a difference in the lives of our youth,” said David Gracy, president of the Foundation. “We’re looking forward to supporting the plan to improve its northwest campus.”
That particular campus provides after-school programs to about 250 mostly-disadvantaged children from ages 5 to 18. That’s the highest number of students served in the organization’s four Alachua County clubs. It’s also the oldest facility, having opened in the mid-1970s.
Keith Blanchard, Chief Professional Officer for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Alachua County, says the organization has wanted to renovate the facility for some time. The Rotary grant will allow it to tackle one of its top priorities—the creation of more space in which to provide students with homework assistance, tutoring and other educational support.
The local Boys and Girls Club has won many local, state and national awards for its programs over the last decade. Blanchard says the facilities improvements will allow the club to do even more.
“We’ve worked so hard to offer really high-quality programs,” he said. ‘It’s important to us that our facilities are up to the same standards as the programming, because our kids deserve that.”
The Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation is made up of all five Rotary Clubs located in Alachua County. The Wild Game Feast is organized each year by the largest of those clubs, the Rotary Club of Gainesville. The next Feast is scheduled for March of 2014.
For nearly three decades, the proceeds from the event have gone to local charities. In recent years proceeds from the event helped furnish and equip a new health clinic for low-income families in southwest Gainesville and the construction of new classrooms for the PACE Center for Girls. Over the last 29 years, the Wild Game feast has raised over $2 million for local charities.
Local Rotary clubs actually support a wide variety of community projects throughout the year, although the Wild Game Feast is the biggest fundraiser.
“The Rotary motto is ‘service above self, and that’s what we’re all about,” said Gracy. “We want to help vital organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs continue the great work they’re doing in the community.”
For more information, contact David Gracy at (352) 336-3039 or Keith Blanchard at (352) 372-5342.