The groundbreaking for a new Teen Center at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hopkinsville-Christian County will come later, but the Great Futures Luncheon was a good time for executive director Terrance Davis to tout what the changes will bring. Davis had a record number of guests present Wednesday at the club headquarters on Walnut Street — roughly 250 donors, board members and supporters — for the 11th annual luncheon.
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Along with testimonials from children who talked about the importance of the club in their lives, Davis described plans for the $1 million grant the Kentucky legislature awarded to the Hopkinsville club this year. It is one of several grants for $1 million going to Boys and Girls Clubs across the state.
“We’re using our $1 million to transform this organization,” Davis said. “Most importantly, we are going to expand our teen center. Serving teens is an integral part of our mission. The club experience we provide our teens helps them grow into adults and make decisions that impact their future.”
Davis pointed to Logan Jones as an example. Jones has been a member of the Hopkinsville club for four years and just graduated from high school. He’ll be leaving town in a few days to begin basic training with the U.S. Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. His service begins Monday, which is his 18th birthday.
It was not easy making friends when he moved to Kentucky from New York around the time he was starting high school, Jones told Hoptown Chronicle. Both of his parents were in the service, and they moved a lot.
His mother insisted he get involved with the club. Jones said he was reluctant but soon found a place he belonged.
“I met some amazing people here,” he said. “I made a lot of friends, but now I wouldn’t just call them friends. They are more like family.”
Jones said he’ll first become a combat medic and will eventually attend college to train as physician’s assistant.
The Hopkinsville club was established in 2005. Today serves about 95 school-age children in the summer. After the expansion is completed, the club could be serve more than 130 students a day, said Davis.
Already equipped with 3D printers, a small recording studio, screenprinting equipment and other technology designed to teach skills, the Teen Center will expand into a FabLab that offers a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) emphasis.
Davis said the organization plans to create a business that the teens will run, offering T-shirt printing with custom designs.
The club has 15 employees, including six who are full time. There are 28 board members.
Construction bids for the project will be opened on Aug. 15. Davis said he hopes ground will be broken in the fall and the facility will be finished by May.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
