Club swirls together fun, study

A fundraiser benefits the Boys & Girls Club's summer programs.

By BETH N. GRAY
Published June 26, 2007

SPRING HILL - School is out, but that doesn't mean an end to learning, exercise and summer fun for a record number of 140 season enrollees at the Boys & Girls Club of Hernando County.

An average day finds about 90 children, ages 5 through 17, from 7:30 a.m. to as late as 6 p.m., at the clubhouse on Applegate Drive. It is a haven for the children of working parents.

Two special programs are running this summer: Travel Through the World in 10 Weeks and a national thrust that targets diversity and health, says executive director Yvonne Kracjovic.

In the former, children learn about 10 countries and regions of the world. They do this through reading, listening, and arts and crafts.

The diversity endeavor touches sports, youth and unity, and branches into healthy habits, hygiene and eating right.

The classroom activities were jeopardized until recently. Classes are conducted in a 20-year-old modular building whose roof was leaking, threatening mold and mildew.

But Outback Steak House and the Kiwanis Club of Spring Hill came to the rescue. They conducted a steak-and-bake fundraising dinner, and through donations and the sale of $35 tickets, the event raised some $6, 100, said club board president Jim Knight.

About $3, 000 put a new roof on the modular unit. More of the money will be used to install new wallboard on the club's gymnasium, which is worn out through constant activity, Kracjovic said. Any money left will go to scholarships or discounted memberships, with regular enrollment $50 a week.

"We don't turn anybody away, " Kracjovic pointed out.

The club spends up to $200 a week for kids' snacks, she noted. Another outlay provides summer swimming weekly at Weeki Wachee's Buccaneer Bay.

After a problem about two years ago, when the former executive director pleaded guilty to appropriating club money meant to fund employee payroll taxes, the money is being repaid. "We're paying off our debts to the IRS, " said Knight, also director of student services in Hernando District Schools.

Knight added, "We are able to pay our bills. We've started a savings program. Financially, I think we've turned the corner. We're living within our budget."

That budget amounts to about $100, 000 per year, he said.

The summer employee roster is seven. During the school year, two full-time and three part-time workers make up the staff.

Kracjovic looks to the future and the club's needs for refurbishing, new programs and improvements.

Beth Gray can be contacted at graybethn@earthlink.net

Fast Facts:

To donate

If you would like to give to the Boys & Girls Club, send donations to Boys & Girls Club of Hernando County, 5404 Applegate Drive, Spring Hill, FL 34606. Donations are tax-deductible.

[Last modified June 25, 2007, 21:43:48]