Officials praise Boys & Girls Club 10/24/2009 9:47 PM
By ROB NOVIT Senior writer
Vanasha Parker has been coming to the Salvation Army's Boys & Girls Club in Aiken after school ever since she can remember.
"It's a good place," said the East Aiken Elementary School fifth-grader. "It's fun to have a place to go after school and play around and get my homework down."
Built in 1995 and named for the late Nancy Moore Thurmond, the Boys & Girls Club celebrated the national "Lights On Afterschool" observance Thursday.
Vanasha had a big role, leading her friends in a character pledge and giving a plaque to state Rep. Roland Smith, R-Warrenville, for his ongoing legislative support of the club and others throughout the state. Smith expressed his appreciation for the award.
"It's very rewarding to know what the Boys & Girls Club has accomplished and how it helps prevent dropouts," he said. "That's what is important to me."
Now in its ninth year and established by the national Afterschool Alliance, Lights On Afterschool rallies were held at as many as 7,500 sites across the country and at military bases.
Salvation Army Executive Director David Repass read a proclamation from Aiken Mayor Fred Cavanaugh, citing the importance of quality after-school programs and the need for more.
After every school day, said the club's executive director, Shawn Risher, the organization provides play opportunities and snacks at the Laurens Street facility.
"Then the kids split up in classrooms for 'power hour,' where the kids get their homework done so parents don't have to worry about it," Risher said.
The children then get in separate groups for health and life activities, the arts, character and leadership education and sports and fitness.
"We've been at the facility for 13 years," Risher said. "We want to branch out into schools to serve more kids. We still partner with the schools and take the kids who aren't in their after-school programs."
Advisory board members Karen Olsen Edwards and Sally Tice joined the celebration Thursday. Edwards' involvement is especially poignant to her; her late father, former Aiken City Councilman Lloyd Olsen, served on the Salvation Army board. Edwards worked there many years ago.
"It was my first job out of college," she said. "I met a lot of families and it opened my eyes to the needs of the community."
Like many service organizations, the Salvation Army is experiencing economic concerns, including the loss of $42,000 in state funding the past two years. The agency will not turn any kids away, Risher said, but the economic issues are troubling to the staff and advisory board as the Christmas season approaches.
Tice, an Aiken High teacher, is involved with LIFT at the school - a program that targets freshmen who are having trouble making the transition from middle school. Three years ago, she and her students helped renovate a building on the Boys & Girls Club campus to serve as a teen center. Soon afterward, Tice joined the advisory board and attends monthly meetings to assist in planning on behalf of the club.
"It's for kids to have a safe place where they're learning and getting character education," she said. "This is a place that's near to my heart, because some of my students have grown up in the Boys & Girls Club. It remains special to them, too."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.
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