The Boys and Girls Club of Jefferson City is building a new home on the Lincoln University campus and, in order for that to be a reality, they have to raise $2.2 million to build the facility.
Calling on private individuals since November, club officials already have raised more than $1.1 million.
While excited about the progress, they still have an additional $1.1 million dollars to raise from the Jefferson City community and from foundations around the country.
Of that amount, $600,000 looks to come from grants and foundations.
The club already has $88,000 in a local bank to go for this, leaving the remaining $322,000 to be raised through public events.
Any excess funds raised during this campaign will go towards furnishings for the facility.
Monday night, club officials kicked off the public campaign, with Ann Littlefield and Chuck Walker as co-chairs.
They will lead 50 local volunteers who will be hosting events to make the community aware of both the need and the programs that the club offers.
They also will be doing a grassroots campaign by calling on small businesses and individuals for donations to help raise the needed funds.
"We need to let people know this is an effort that affects everyone," Walker said. "I've been working in Ferguson the past few months and when you look at that situation - this is a project that will set us apart from the rest of the state because it can change lives."
An artist's conception of the proposed site shows the Boys and Girls Club located on land donated by Lincoln University, a short distance to the north of the Community Wellness Center that Lincoln and the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry department plan to build on Lafayette Street, between LU's Dwight Reed Stadium and Jefferson City High School.
The city's Parks Commission is slated to vote on the proposal late this afternoon.
The center will include a four-court gym that will be accessible to the club after school.
Lincoln President Kevin Rome, who attended programs at a Boys and Girls Club when he grew up, also has said children will be able to access the school's facilities, noting that the university, school and club are all near where most of the children served by the club currently live.
The project will require Lincoln University to move its softball field, with a tentative plan to relocate it to the north of the baseball field, on the Chestnut Street side of the LU campus.
The 16,000 square-foot facility would allow the Boys and Girls Club to have all of its programs under one roof.
After the club lost its Elm Street home in August due to the Lafayette Street Interchange Project, the Jefferson City Public School District donated space to keep the club's programs going while a new home could be planned. The club now uses seven sites throughout the city to serve more than 400 children each day.
"These kids need us whether we have this building or not," said Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Stephanie Johnson. "We are their home away from home."
Plans are to have construction start in the summer and have the facility ready to open in the fall of 2016 - about the same time the Wellness Center also is finished.
When completed, club officials said the new building would be one of only two in the country to be located on a college campus.
To find out more about the campaign, people can call Johnson at 634-2582 or go to bgcjc.com/light.
There also is a video about the project on the Boys and Girls Club Jefferson City YouTube site.