Boys & Girls Club receives $1 million donation

Construction will remain a constant for The Boys & Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County for the foreseeable future, when it was announced the organization would receive a grant to go toward a new clubhouse.

Executive Director Aric Cooksley announced that The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation awarded the nonprofit a grant for $1 million, which will help build a clubhouse on the corner of Second Street West and 17th Avenue in Polson. The local club is associated with Boys & Girls Club of America.

“Optimistacally, best-case-scenario, we would love to be able to break ground in 2019,” Cooksley said Thursday, Aug. 23.

Factors that influence the physical process of buildling the new clubhouse will include fundraising, and the behind-the-scene decisions and paperwork completed by necessary target dates, he added.

Conceptual plans for the building call for about 19,000 square feet, including a 7,500 square-foot gymnasium.

The award, Cooksley stated in a press release, “helps the Boys & GIrls Club make significant strides towards funding phase one, exceeding the $2.4 million mark with a projected phase one budget of $4 million.”

THE POLSON clubhouse is anticipated to serve 200 children daily once it reaches full capacity, Cooksley said.

The current clubhouse, located at 110 Sixth Ave. E. in Polson, sees fewer than 50 children daily, as it often reaches capacity when the doors open each day.

Increased job opportunities for staff will be a benefit from the new location, according to Cooksley. “We staff, on average, a ratio of 10-12 kids for every staff member,” he said.

As operations are up-and-running over the next couple years, Cooksley said that not only are paid staff positions created, but volunteer engagement will come into play as well.

“We really look at volunteers as, this is someone who, one, wants to be here with the kids, and two, is bringing some kind of expertise,” Cooksley said.

That expertise could range from a volunteer working and listening with a first-grade student as they read to a retired engineer helping to run a robotics program.

“When you have that kind of ability, facilities-wise, to meet the diversity of skills that can come in your direction, you can go any number of directions.”

THE NEWS of the Polson clubhouse funding comes as the organization continues renovating the former Total Home Store at 62579 U.S. Highway 93 in Ronan.

The new Ronan location sprawls out 19,000 square feet, which Cooksley said will allow the club to serve children ages 6-18.

As construction moves along, Cooksley said portions of the building will include areas for an art center, learning centers for youths and teens, and a kitchen area and cafe setting.

Eventually, during what Cooksley called “phase two,” a gymnasium will be added to the structure.

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, established in 1988, is a major philanthropic organization for The Washington Companies and the Washington Family.

The foundation supports programs and services that afford people opportunities to better their lives.

Funding for the foundation comes from personal contributions from the Washington family and annual contributions from The WAshington companies.

Since its inception, the foundation, as well as the family’s personal contributions, have raised more than a quarter-of-a-billion dollars.

THE BOYS & GIRLS Club was established on the Flathead Reservation and Lake County in 1999.

It serves children ages 6-18 year between the Ronan and Polson clubhouses, servicing 600 club members in 2017.

Programs promote academic success, character and leadership, and healthy lifestyles, helping to build positive futures for children.

Anyone interested in volunteering or donation opportunities can contact the Boys & Girls Club Ronan office at 406-676-5437.

For more information on the Boys & Girls Club, visit www.flatheadbgc.org.