Published September 2002

Boys & Girls Club offers safe, fun place for kids

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Bill Tsoukalas remembers his introduction to the Boys & Girls Club. He was growing up in Seattle at the time, the oldest child of a blue-collar family.

“I got my knock on the door from a coach to get involved with baseball,” Tsoukalas said.

So he got involved with the Boys & Girls Club team, made friends and connected with a positive adult role model. He also learned how to play baseball, which, incidentally, ended up paying his way through college.

That was many years ago, but Tsoukalas has never forgotten what the Boys & Girls Club did for him as a child. And as executive director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, he works to provide that same positive experience for children through the organization’s 10 clubs and 18 extension sites — 16 in area schools and two in apartment complexes.

To do that, the nonprofit organization relies on partnerships — partnerships with the Tulalip Tribes, the county, area cities, school districts and businesses — to leverage its funds in serving the more than 12,000 Snohomish County children who are Boys & Girls Club members.

This summer, for instance, three area Boys & Girls Clubs, with the help of the Verizon Foundation and the Everett AquaSox, participated in the Governor’s Summer Reading Challenge, which encouraged kids to read for 20 minutes a day. The Verizon Foundation donated $20,000 in funding for paperback and hardback books as well as incentives to run the program, and the Everett AquaSox supplied tickets to the Aug. 23 ball game to club members who had read 15 hours during the summer.

Over the years, such partnerships have helped the youth organization leverage its budget to provide meals or snacks for 1,100 children a day, as well as homework help, technology labs, libraries, arts and crafts, and athletics, among other programs.

All that adds up to just $350 per child per year — the amount community members can donate to sponsor a child, Tsoukalas said.

“We think that’s a pretty good return on a donor’s investment,” he said.

Now, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County is looking to expand its reach to more children by adding Snohomish and Lake Stevens clubhouses. In July, the organization began its capital campaign to raise $2.45 million for the projects.

“It’s going to be challenging,” Tsoukalas said, noting the tough economy. But feasibility studies have found community support for the projects.

From the parental standpoint, it’s a good place for their kids, he said, a safe place with positive adult role models and fun programs. And, with membership dues just $10 a year (though no child is turned away for financial reasons), it’s a good bargain, too.

For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, call 425-258-2436 or visit www.bgcsnoco.org on the Web.

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