Boys and Girls Club looking to start in Strathmore
Amy Gregson – Times Reporter
The Boys and Girls Club Initiative is looking to start a Boys and Girls Club in Strathmore and is holding an information meeting to speak with community members.
Shannon Zieman is on the committee looking to bring the club to Strathmore and said she feels there is a need for this type of group in town. “What we’re looking at, is starting out in Strathmore and being able to do some proactive programming to try and keep kids active and safe,” said Zieman.
The Boys and Girls Club has been active in Canada for more than 100 years and offers affordable positive programs for kids of all ages.
The Boys and Girls Club Initiative is looking at offering affordable after-school care for families who work, physical activities such as intramurals that are not specific to one sport, summer camps and other activities for kids in town.
“These are all things that fit in with the mandate of a Boy’s and Girls Club,” said Zieman, who currently works for the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary in the foster care department.
A committee has been meeting for the past few months trying to start the club here in Strathmore, which could be a long process that includes completing a needs assessment and showing there’s an interest in the community for this group.
The group may look at starting under the umbrella of the Boys and Girls Club of Airdrie so they could start programming right away.
“Going under Airdrie would allow us to get our feet under us and branch off once we’re stable,” said Zieman.
“Otherwise to just do it entirely on our own it could be up to a two year process before we’re at the point of programming.”
If they do go under the umbrella of the Airdrie Club, the group could start programs like the after school care as a pilot project as early as April.
“If we set it up as a pilot and it goes over really well, come September maybe we could offer it in a few schools,” said Zieman.
The information session will be held March 9 at 7 p.m. at the Travelodge, where the group will present what their initiative is.
Representatives from the Boys and Girls Club in Alberta and Airdrie will also be presenting information.
They are looking for anybody to come out to the information meeting, from parents and kids to people who are interested in supporting the club financially or those wanting to get involved.
“We want other agencies that provide services for kids because the one thing we don’t want to do is take away services that are already being offered. We want to look at collaborating with those other agencies in town,” said Zieman.
She recognizes that with being a brand new program they will have to collaborate with other programs and services in town while getting started.
From the upcoming meeting the group is looking to get a sense of whether the program will be viable in Strathmore, as well as what types of programming people are looking for, which could be anything from science to cooking programs.
Zieman said the after-school program and membership fees would be very low to make it affordable for everybody and that the mission of the Boys and Girls Club is no child will be turned away.
“Strathmore has gotten so big. We service not only the town but such a large outlying community and there is programming in town, but there’s not enough to service the population anymore.”
Zieman said in the future she believes Strathmore will eventually have the population and ability to support their own facility.