Boys & Girls Club needs continued city support
Editor: Our community thrives because of the many partnerships formed over the years among public agencies, nonprofit organizations, private companies, community groups, families, residents and visitors to our beautiful valley. The Boys & Girls Club, more than most, depends on the contributions and commitment of multiple partners to enable us to provide our programs and services to Sonoma youth. Sports leagues, summer programs, after-school care, art and science enrichment, access to high tech equipment and instruction, not to mention an array of youth development programs that help our young people mature into contributing and responsible members of our community, are available at the Boys & Girls Club to children throughout the Valley at nominal cost.
The club partners with SVUSD to provide after-school instruction at schools throughout the Valley. Sonoma County has been a partner for years, providing a beautiful site for our building and garden at no cost to the club and granting almost $400,000 in seed money to get that marvelous facility built. Our major donors have supported club programs since the beginning, providing everything from state-of-the-art computer equipment to labor and materials to construct the club’s garden. Nonprofits like the Ecology Center and service organizations like Rotary and Kiwanis have joined with the club to improve the facility and expand our program offerings. Private companies like Nelson Personnel pay their employees to spend part of their work day at the club helping our kids with homework assignments. Our members and their families, along with hundreds of residents, commit thousands of volunteer hours each year to support our fundraisers, coach our sports teams and in so many ways provide that critical connection between youth and adults that demonstrates this community cares about its kids.
For more than 20 years, the city of Sonoma was counted among those partners. From the club’s early days as a Boys Club, holding meetings in the Sonoma Community Center, to its relocation to First Street West and finally to Maxwell Park, the city has made annual contributions to support our summer and after-school programs. When the club applied to the county for grant funds to help build our current facility, it was the city of Sonoma that signed the application. During construction, city staff was assigned to help manage the project, a generous donation of city resources in support of the club’s mission.
This year, that long-standing partnership with the city appears to be in jeopardy. Knowing the city’s current budget did not provide funding for the club beyond June 2008, a proposal to renew our contract was submitted several months ago for the City Council to consider. It has yet to appear on a council agenda. We have been told it may be discussed on Oct. 1, along with an update of the city’s finances. Might the council decide that they can’t “afford” to support the club in the current economic climate? Given the city’s sound financial position, we hope not. What we do hope is that the council will recognize their partnership with the club as not merely an expense, but as an investment in their community, (one that many cities make through their park and rec departments) resulting in benefits that far surpass the monetary value of the contract.
Our request to the city represents six percent of our total operating budget (and less than one percent of theirs). While we respect the City Council’s responsibility to consider all matters of importance to their constituents, we hope this issue will become a priority for them soon. The Boys & Girls Club needs the city to partner with us and the hundreds of organizations, private companies, government agencies and individuals that work together to support programs and services for youth in Sonoma.
Mary Neilan
Chair, Government Relations Committee
Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley
Dress code is important step
Editor: I would like to express sincere appreciation for your Editorial on the Dress Code situation in last week’s paper. You very succinctly and comprehensively captured the key concepts that we’ve been trying to convey: banning the colors is certainly not the only solution but it is one way to decrease intimidation, enhance the feeling of safety at school, and allow students and staff to concentrate more on the business of education. We are continuing to create and implement a more comprehensive plan for improving the overall safety of the campuses. We’ll cover these aspects more in detail during the future Study Session. Thanks again very much for your support of the Middle and High School administrators on this issue.
Pam Martens
SVUSD Superintendent