Club receives grant

The Boys and Girls Club in Ronan will be moving to the former Total Home location following renovations to the building.

Construction is expected to be at the $2.5-million mark, and last week, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center helped the club by donating $5,000 to its cause.

So far, Cooksley said that the club has raised $1.7 million.

“This certainly serves” the community, Chief Executive Officer James Kiser said after paraphrasing the hospital’s mission statement, “As people of Providence, we reveal God’s love for all, especially the poor and vulnerable, through our compassionate service.

The money was awarded by the Mission Values Committee, which distributes money through the community to organizations that help area residents.

“There are two challenges with kids,” Aric Cooksley, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, said.

“One of them being getting kids in one place, and the other is having the space” to engage youth, he explained. “We now have that.”

The building is 19,000 square feet, which Cooksley said will allow for more activities for more students.

“This will change a generation,” he said.

Between the Ronan and Polson locations, last year about 500 kids were served, adding that the two locations are “pushed hard” during the summer.

Last year during the fall, there were 30 kids in both middle school and high school that attended the program regularly, Cooksley said.

Considering the growth, the move will allow for older students to build up their resumes with various learning programs for them.