MALVERN — A couple of years ago, Tammy Denham took a group of students on a hike around Lake Catherine in Hot Springs. The group got to see all the fall leaf coverage, identifying plants and trees, and were allowed to explore and play in the area.
“We also got to roast hot dogs and make s’mores,” Denham said. “That’s when a lot of them came to me and asked if I would take them camping.”
Now Denham, executive director for the Boys & Girls Club of Malvern and Hot Spring County, is seeking donations of outdoor equipment.
“Some of those kids had never been on a hike, much less built a fire,” she said. “Too many of the kids nowadays just sit in front of their tablets, cellphones or video games and TV.
“One of our missions is to teach them healthy lifestyles, so we would like to get them outdoors more and experience different things that they might not normally get to experience.”
The Boys & Girls Club of Malvern and Hot Spring County is seeking any functional used outdoor equipment, specifically anything related to camping. Items being sought include tents, hammocks, camp chairs, canopies, ice chests, lanterns and flashlights, camp cooking equipment, sleeping bags, backpacks, fishing rods, tackle boxes, and canoes, kayaks or boating accessories.
“I know we have had some individuals, some parents, who have donated some ice chests to us already,” Denham said.
Dylan Briner, who is on the board for the club, said Grand Trunk, a national business that specializes in hammock sales, has donated hammocks to the club. He said of the 50 or so businesses he has reached out to so far, Grand Trunk was the only one to agree to donate items.
“It is something new that we are trying,” Denham said. “We are trying to get the kids to get out and be active instead of just sitting in front of technology.”
She said she and Briner are both “outdoorsy” types and like to go camping and rafting, as well as participate in other outdoor activities.
“As a kid, I always played outside all day long, and nowadays, when we take them outside early in the morning during the summer, after 10 minutes, they act like they are dying,” Denham said. “They just can’t take it.”
But she said thanks to a couple of focus groups she has spearheaded, the kids have shown interest in going camping and taking part in more activities outside.
For more information or to learn how to donate outdoor equipment, visit www.malvernhscbgc.info or call (501) 337-4462.
Denham, who is going into her third year as executive director for the club, said it has close to 200 students right now, but the numbers always go up during the year.
“We usually end up with 600 members in a year,” Denham said. “We want to introduce them to different things because there is not a whole lot to do in Malvern, outside of sports.
“So we want to see what we can do to engage the older group and find activities to involve them in.”
Denham said during the summer program this past year, volunteers from the local Master Gardeners club visited, and the students had the opportunity to plant a garden outside. She said the students were “super excited about that.”
“The kids have been growing their garden outside and really enjoying that,” she said.
The Boys & Girls Club of Malvern and Hot Spring County offers a variety of activities, currently including tutoring and homework help, a computer lab, arts and crafts, career launch, smart moves and the Torch Club.
The Torch Club is geared toward 11- to 13-year-olds and teaches them leadership skills. Denham said club members vote for officers and pick various community-service projects to plan and execute.
“We also have the game room up here and our gymnasium, where we have different games and activities,” she said. “We also have all of our sport programs, such as soccer, softball, volleyball and tee-ball.”
She said they also have started an adopted-grandparent program with a partnership with Encore Healthcare and Rehabilitation, which is next door. She said the students will visit with the residents and participate in various activities with them.
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.