Effort underway to bring Boys & Girls Club to Marshalltown
There is an effort to bring a chapter of the Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA) to Marshalltown.
BGCA has a mission to enable children and help them become responsible citizens. The organization provides after school programs for youth as young as 6 years of age. There are six categories of youth programs – sports and recreation, workforce readiness, character and leadership, education, arts and health and wellness.
Spearheading the effort is former 20-year Marshalltown resident Christopher Wells, who has a goal of opening in the fall of 2025. He has seen the BGCA provide affordable and safe environments for children to build character.
“In today’s society, so many parents are both working until 5 p.m., and a Club can provide a safe place to get homework done, eat a warm meal and participate in some character building activities,” Wells said.
In order to make it a reality, he is looking for people to join the effort. Depending on the support generated, Wells said there is no limit on the number of Marshalltown children who could be positively impacted.
“Lots of details about location, staffing and funding would all still need to be discussed, but I could see a community our size having a need of 75 to 100 kids per day,” he said. “The Ames community is currently remodeling and expanding their existing Club to be able to serve 165 kids per day.”
Wells has been in contact with the national BGCA organization to figure out what needs to be done to bring it to Marshalltown. The first step is to form a founding committee.
“It would be best if that committee could include several different partners in our community such as people from the churches, police departments, community members and our schools,” he said.
If the committee believes forming a BGCA chapter in Marshalltown is viable, Wells said the national organization will organize informational meetings and answer questions the community might have. Proceeding steps would then be determined.
The location of the club would need to be a place kids can access after school and during the summer months. Wells said there are more than 5,000 clubs in the nation. Some are standalone clubhouses, and others are in schools, churches, buildings with large open spaces or gymnasiums. He said anywhere could work as long as it was financially viable and is accessible.
The necessary number of BGCA staff members would depend on the total number of kids being served.
“Most clubs are seeing the best success with lower staff to student ratios,” Wells said. “I think we would try to have one staff per 15 kids at our site. We are going to try to cover the administrative costs and staff needed by partnering with an existing organization, instead of starting our own from scratch.”
While he no longer lives in the community, a piece of his heart remains here.
“It’s where I turned my life around,” he said. “I started my first business there. My family is there, my kids live there, and one day I will retire there. Marshalltown is home to me.”
Wells described Marshalltown as a wonderful city with great stories.
“We are naturally resilient, and always find ways to continue to celebrate no matter what has been thrown at us,” he said.
It is because of his affection for Marshalltown he is leading the charge to bring more opportunities and provide guidance to the kids, even those who feel they have no place to go. The BGCA can help them become wonderful adults, and has been doing so since 1860. Wells is speaking from experience. As a child, he found the Club to be a fun and safe place for him to go, where he played dodgeball and video games, and learned how to do various activities such as cup stacking.
“Looking back, I wish I could have went more,” he said. “I have good memories there.”
The loss of Wells’ friend Frances this past year was the catalyst for the effort.
“It was then that I knew I wanted to give back and find a way to bring more positivity, and options to Marshalltown,” he said. “I need the community to step up with me otherwise this will not happen. I see it like this, if we bring this to Marshalltown today, we might just be saving a life in the future.”
For anyone who wants to get involved, they can contact me bgc.marshalltown@gmail.com.
——
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.