ARKADELPHIA: Plans moving forward for Boys and Girls Club

By Philip Seaton

LITTLE ROCK — Two meetings in less than a week have Clark County Boys and Girls Club steering committee cochairman Estella Forte excited.

On April 24 it was a meeting with representatives of the Boys and Girls Club of Helena-West Helena, and on Monday it was the Boys and Girls Club Regional Director Tom Hough's turn to keep the spark burning for the first Boys and Girls Club for the county.

"It went well," Forte said of the Monday meeting on the campus of Henderson State University. "He made an excellent presentation on how to get started and how to organize.

"He felt that Clark County was a good place for a Boys and Girls Club, and the opportunities were great here. He said there was a need to do something for the youth in this county."

Forte estimated that about 25 to 30 attended the hour-long meeting.

"That is about what we had hoped for," she said. "A lot of people couldn't make it, but I know there is a lot of interest in this county for a Boys and Girls Club."

The April 24 meeting was for steering committee members, and Boys and Girls Club officials from Phillips County said that their club had experienced rapid growth, butthey expected Clark County's club to grow faster.

"Most of the towns around us have a Boys and Girls Club," Forte said. "So one for Arkadelphia and Clark County is way past due."

The goal for the steering committee is to have the club in placeby the first of September, Forte said. Work has been ongoing as far as locating a place for the facility, but the next step is fundraising and forming an advisory board to run the club.

"We hope the people in the county will help," she said. "There is a need for financial support of any kind to get the project off the ground. We have no money yet, and we estimate that we will need from $175,000 to $200,000 to get started."

The fundraising will be ongoing, and after enough funds are raised an executive director will be hired by the Advisory Board.

The National Boys and Girls Club will assist in helping Clark County conduct a national search as well as establishedguidelines for the club.

"It was a very positive meeting (on Monday)," Forte said. "We had a lot of young parents there. After the meeting a lot of them were saying, 'When do we start?' The energy is high, and a lot of people are very interested in bringing a Boys and Girls Club to Clark County."

For more information or to donate, contact Forte at (870) 246 -6810 or by mail at 1555 Pine Manor Drive, Arkadelphia, AR 71923; or Max Brown at Max Brown Insurance Agency on Clinton Street in Arkadelphia; or Carrie Robertson at Elk Horn Bank.

- pseaton@ arkansasonline.com

Tri-Lakes, Pages 59, 64 on 05/01/2008