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Brandon
The phone is ringing of the hook at the Boys & Girls Club in Brandon, where the kids are awed by the new gym.
By JAY CRIDLIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 14, 2003
BRANDON -- It's been just three weeks since Brandon's Boys & Girls Club opened its doors, but Ricky Gallon is already reminiscing.
Gallon learned to play basketball at a Boys & Girls Club growing up in West Tampa. It paid off -- he became a Hillsborough County hoops legend and an NBA player.
"I learned all the rules and fundamentals of the game," said Gallon. "The club was like my little place to have my own time, where I could be me."
Now, Gallon is director of the new Bill Carey Boys & Girls Club in Brandon, which has been wildly successful.
"The phone continues to ring off the hook," says program director Kelly Lane. "We've had regular growing pains, but everything that we have had has been because the growth has been so fast. Everyone told us that there was such a need here in Brandon, and what we've seen so far just confirms that."
The club will serve several hundred children each year, though it has a daily capacity of about 150. Already 123 have signed up; most won't start coming regularly until the summer, but already, about 60 kids come in each day. Each week, Lane said, the club adds about 15 members.
"We've emphasized to them that they're the first ones to come to this club," Lane said. "They've been real excited about that. They kind of feel like they're the pioneers."
The new $2-million, 13,700-square-foot club is part of a countywide effort to double Tampa Bay's Boys & Girls Club resources over the next five years.
The annual club fee is $20, and the monthly fee varies based on income but can be as low as $11.
Lane is already receiving positive feedback.
One parent has already said the center is good for her child.
"Her son has been coming for only a week, and she said, 'This place is unbelievable -- he was so withdrawn. . . . You've already tapped something. You've already given him confidence in areas that he hadn't been exposed to.' "
The children also give glowing reviews.
"It's fantastic," said Winston Figaro, 8, a student at Yates Elementary. "It's the best club I've ever been to. What I like about it is, they help with everything. They help you at the gym, and they help you with the games."
If the club has any problem, Lane said, it's understaffing. Four employees man the center each day, though that number will grow by the summer.
"We can't keep up with the phone calls and the people stopping by," she said.
Lane said the children have offered their help.
The club encourages students to work on their homework and offers drug and alcohol education programs, but the kids are more enthralled with the enormous gymnasium.
"They've got all kinds of games," said Edward Taylor, 10, a student at Valrico Elementary. "They give you a lot of time to play volleyball, basketball, football, baseball and tennis."
Gallon is hoping to give the kids the same kind of experience he had.
"As long as we can touch them and give them opportunities one way or another, I think it's good," Gallon said. "If it wasn't for this, for me, I don't know where I'd be."
-- Jay Cridlin can be reached at 661-2426 or cridlin@sptimes.com .
The Bill Carey Boys & Girls Club, at 213 N Knights Ave. in Brandon, is open to all children ages 6 to 18 who are not already in an afterschool program. Five-year-old kindergarteners are also accepted. Call the club at 685-2006.