Monday, September 29, 2008
Editorial: Boys and Girls Clubs builds a legacy
The local Boys and Girls Club ushers in a new teen center but says goodbye to its director.
From the RoundTable blog
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The Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia set out a decade ago to make sure kids didn't age out of its programs or influence. The goal to help teens make smart choices so they didn't end up as unready parents or high school dropouts couldn't be reached unless the club could actually keep reaching the teens.
Recently, the dream for a teen center with a ready-made crop of teens became a reality.
It couldn't have happened without the convergence of bold thinking, tremendous community support and a big need that was going unmet. And, oh yes, the strong vision and leadership of club director Becci Emanuelson. For her, the teen center is the realization of her dream, and it allows her to leave the organization this week having crossed off all the items on her to-do list.
She told reporter Beth Macy in a recent story that she wants to make room for new energy and leadership to try new things. Emanuelson set a quick, effective pace that will prove challenging to meet, let alone exceed.
Since the organization opened its first center in Roanoke in 1997, it has grown to serve currently more than 1,400 children in centers throughout the Roanoke Valley, New River Valley, and Martinsville and Henry County.
From the start, the club had hoped to attract teenagers, but it is difficult to pull in older kids with no connection to the place or people. Time could solve that problem.
As Roanoke Valley board president Dan Layman explained it, "We figured it was best to just grow our own teenage members as the kids got older."
And they did. But with space limitations, the older kids were mixed with the younger ones, not a good idea for either age group. That made it all the more imperative to provide the teens with a place of their own. It was either that or risk them leaving the club.
Emanuelson solved that problem by seeking a grant through Doris Buffet's The Sunshine Lady's Foundation and fundraising aggressively to quickly match the award.
The club will surely miss Emanuelson's leadership. But who knows how many teens she has inspired to become future leaders. That legacy will outlast and outshine the new building.
