CAPE CIVIC CENTER HIRES NEW DIRECTOR

When Laura Pruneau interviewed in January with the Cape Girardeau Civic Center, she came armed with three pages of questions and suggestions.

She left not knowing whether she would get the job as director and started work on a list of projects she thought would be beneficial for the organization.

"I just knew this was something I wanted to do," Pruneau said. "I have to be in a position providing services for others."

On Tuesday the Civic Center Board of Directors selected Pruneau as the new full-time, paid director of the center.

Pruneau, who lives in Ste. Genevieve and will be commuting to Cape Girardeau, brings 10 years of experience in nonprofit organizations, including work in fund-raising and marketing.

"She is the answer to a lot of prayer and some really effective advertising," said Tamara Zellars Buck, president of the Civic Center board.

Buck said Pruneau's experience in fund raising coupled with marketing skills made her the choice.

The Civic Center, 232 Broadway, owns a building with a gym. It offers programs to underprivileged youths.

Buck said the board and volunteers have begun a number of projects that require the follow through a full-time director can give.

"We have established collaborative efforts with a number of other organizations," said Buck For example, initial contacts have been made with the Area Agency on Aging and the Futures Program to bring staff to the center.

Cape Girardeau's Alternative Education Center holds classes in the Civic Center facility during the week. The NAACP meets in the building monthly. Narcotics Anonymous meets there weekly.

The Cape Girardeau Public Library brings books and after-school reading to the center in an outreach program. In addition, the center offers programming including three recreational basketball teams competing in the Optimist League and the Save Our Little Sisters Network, a mentoring program for girls 12 to 18.

Financially, the civic center remains at about the same place it was three years ago, Buck said. The center hasn't paid a full-time director since 1994. But Buck sees light at the end of the tunnel.

The center is again a United Way-funded organization, having lost that funding for a year in 1996 because of problems with the center's bookkeeping. In addition, the center has received $30,000 from a Bootheel Initiative grant. The grant money has allowed the center to hire Pruneau.

The Civic Center also has been designated a Weed and Seed Safe Haven and will receive funding from that organization.

Pruneau said strategic planning is among her top priorities. She plans to meet with parents, children and people in the business community in hopes of building a strong program.

"We have a great team already with our board and volunteers and children and parents," Pruneau said. "We just need someone to pull it all together. That's my job."