Residents work to form youth club on Campobello Island

Campobello resident Brittany Rice is working towards forming a Boys and Girls Club on the island. The island currently has limited resources for youth activities, daycare and after-school programs.

Rice has contacted several people, including the Boys and Girls Club of Canada and the St. Stephen Boys and Girls Club, to help get the project started.

Several people on Campobello have made previous attempts to develop a youth center or program on Campobello, but these efforts have not yet succeeded. Rice is aware of these attempts and that land, as well as funding, has been provided in the past.

Rice states, "Often, we all need to see some instant results, and when we don't receive them we tend to fall back. With a project this tedious and large, we need to be constantly at it and unwilling to take 'no' for an answer. With such a small community, we need to be able to have one facility that offers multiple resources. We just don't have the means to open a recreation complex, a daycare, this, that, etcetera."

Talks with Heather Estey, executive director of the St. Stephen Boys and Girls Club, have provided insight into starting such a club. Charlotte County Boys and Girls Club has offered to serve as an "umbrella" for the Campobello project. This would mean they would offer the services of their board of directors and their director. The Campobello club would not have to hire a director, which would help save $30,000 a year.

According to the Needs Assessment Survey that was conducted by the Campobello Health & Wellness Committee, 89.2% of the 453 people who answered those particular questions felt the island needed a recreation complex/facility, and 83% said the island needed a daycare. Approximately 65% of those people felt that the school is not fulfilling its potential as a "hub" for community programs and activities.

The funding to build a facility is not available, nor are there any buildings on Campobello that would meet the codes and standards required to be used as a recreation center. Estey and Rice have been working on a proposal to develop the concept of trying to incorporate the Boys and Girls Club within the Campobello school. The proposal would be to use a room within the school to run the first few foundation programs that would be created, which may include: after-school programs for grades K to 5; Power Up, a homework and tutoring program; Girls Circle, an evening group for teenage girls; Boys Association, an evening group for teenage boys; pre-teen/teen events; play group; and family night activities. Principal Robert Newman and Vice Principal Daphne Carten are interested in working with the proposal for the Boys and Girls Club.

Rice stresses that the Campobello community will have to come together to help make this project a success. Volunteers will be needed to help with the programs that will be developed. Anyone who is interested in hearing updates or becoming involved can join the Facebook group, "Campobello Boys and Girls Club" or e-mail <campobelloboysandgirlsclub@yahoo.com>. Anyone interested in sponsoring or donating to the cause can contact the Boys and Girls Club there as well.

The board of directors in St.Stephen has expressed concerns about the fact that many workers on Campobello are seasonal, and they worry whether the numbers for the groups and persons who will use the Boys and Girls Club will drop during the winter months. If they drop at a large rate, the funding may not be available to continue the programs. Therefore, a survey is being conducted at <www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=czkgh2IOwdDIOXAH1Ms5Qg_3d_3d>. This survey will help determine whether the Boys and Girls Club would be utilized throughout the year and how to coordinate programs to ensure the numbers stay consistent.

Although the Campobello Boys and Girls Club will be using the St. Stephen board of directors, it also need its own committee to speak for the club and to represent the community. A Boys and Girls Club development committee will be formed, which will meet at a future date to be announced. The meetings will be open to the public, but only those on the committee will be able to vote on any final decisions.

Brittany Rice is currently working with Lisa Henderson, who has been trained in the Girls Circle program. For more information about Girls Circle, visit <www.girlscircle.com/about_us.aspx>. Those who wish to understand more about the Boys and Girls Club development can visit <www.bgccan.com/index.asp>.