The Boys & Girls Club of the Capital City surpassed its $2.2 million fundraising goal for its capital campaign and will continue to seek donations for its new building to be located on the Lincoln University's Jefferson City campus.
Donations total in excess of $2.5 million, and money continues to flow in to help the club fill the building with tools for its children, said Stephanie Johnson, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club.
"As the campaign went on, we were just super excited that people were embracing the Boys & Girls Club," she said. "Everywhere we went, we didn't get one "no' from any ask we had. We ended up saying, "We're going to go for it,' and we surpassed the $2.5 million."
The campaign, led by community members, started nearly a year ago, Johnson said. By December 2014, donations reached $1 million - a combination of area businesses and individuals ranging from $25,000-$100,000. They will have rooms within the 18,000-square-foot facility named after them. Johnson said the anticipated completion date is January 2017.
Reaching the $2.5 million mark means the club will be able to finish the basement, which will be the designated teen center. The original goal allowed for a partially-finished basement that included completed bathrooms.
Grants also came through, including one for $250,000 from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, a Delaware nonprofit corporation; $75,000 from Ameren Missouri and $200,000 from a foundation that wishes to remain anonymous.
The new building will be named after the largest donor, which will be announced Wednesday during a groundbreaking ceremony.
Though the club has gone beyond its fundraising expectation, it is still looking for about $50,000 for playground equipment in two outdoors areas, a basketball court, cubbies and lockers, supplies for the music and art room, kitchen equipment and more. Johnson said she also dreams of creating a dance studio in the teen center, where the children who dance, including the step and cheer teams, can practice.
Dan Westhues, senior vice president at Central Bank and one of the campaign leaders, said the biggest goal was to build without debt.
At 727 East Elm St., the Boys & Girls Club called an old gas station home. Now, it's a construction site for the new Lafayette Interchange. The Missouri Department of Transportation purchased the building for $425,000, $25,000 of that went directly toward the new building and the remaining is in savings for future operational expenses, Johnson said.
"When we first found out we were going to lose our facility because of the highway project, I was really upset because we were going to lose our Boys & Girls Club," she said. "But at the end of the day, that highway project had a very thick silver lining for the club because we're finally going to get a facility that the kids in this community deserve."
The search for a new, existing building then started. Partnering with Architects Alliance, a Jefferson City-based architectural firm, the club looked at multiple sites. Cary Gampher, one of the architects on the project, said he and his team applied the "architectural program of need," a list of necessary functions, to the potential buildings, but they ran into challenges.
Existing buildings weren't meeting life safety codes, such as fire and egress requirements, American Disability Act accessibility and safety and security of indoor and outdoor spaces.
"Trying to find that in an existing building was next to impossible, so you have to balance the cost of a piece of property or building and its grounds plus the renovation costs to get it to meet not only the local needs, but also the national requirements for Boys & Girls Club," Gampher said.
Around that time, Kevin Rome was taking his position as president of Lincoln University. Rome, who spent his childhood at the Boys & Girls Club in his hometown of Columbus, Georgia, toured the East Elm Street building and learned it would soon be demolished.
He approached Johnson about relocating the club on the LU campus, and a partnership between the entities was solidified.
"The bottom line was, I think, to do the right thing," Rome said. "If we have a resource that we can share with the community, particularly the kids, it wasn't about being selfish, it wasn't about giving up land, and space is premium on a college campus.
"But why do we exist if it's not to serve others? And, to me, it's about helping. I don't know if I learned that through my participation in the Boys and Girls Club or not, but I just believe that when you have an opportunity to help someone, that's what you do. In my position as president, I believe that I was in a position to help the Boys and Girls Club."
With approval from the LU board of curators, a piece of campus property was deeded to the Boys & Girls Club and the capital campaign kicked off.
LU has been impacting the club for year, though, and currently, 26 Boys & Girls Club employees are from LU, three of which are alumni, and 10 students volunteer. Many LU students, Johnson said, have endured life experiences similar to the Boys & Girls Club children. Of its members, 19 percent of the children live in a household with an annual income of $19,000 or less; 30 percent are between $10,000-$20,000; and 26 percent are between $30,000-$40,000. Forty-one percent are Caucasian, 40 percent are African American, 14 percent are multi-racial and 2 percent are Hispanic.
"Lincoln University students are role models for our kids, and they're able to come in and relate to them and say, "I know what it's like to not know where your next meal is going to come from, and I know what it's like to move from place to place as a child. That's your situation, but it doesn't have to be you,'" Johnson said. "They're able to relate to the kids and show them that you can control your life, you can get yourself to college and you can change your situation. That's a great message to send to kids who maybe don't have a lot in their homes."
Johnson said there could be opportunities for LU students, particularly in the educational department, to complete internships and practicums with the Boys & Girls Club.
The new building will be able to expand the club's membership capacity, she said. About 300 children can learn and play inside the new building, and the club will continue to have sites at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Lewis and Clark Middle School and Pioneer Trail Elementary School, each caring for 100 children.
Johnson is also wanting to keep doors open longer, extending hours until 8 p.m. on weekdays and possibly open the club on Friday nights and Saturdays.
"There are some kids that come to the Boys & Girls Club who come from very loving, supportive homes, and we just reinforce those values," Johnson said. "But there are other children who come to the Boys & Girls Club because they need a safe place to go, and we're their family. We're their lifeline. For those children, who maybe lack safety in their lives, we want to be open for them as long as possible, so they have a safe place where they can be."