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NewsNovember 22, 2000

Having an affiliation with the national Boys & Girls Clubs of America is going to have a positive affect on the Cape Girardeau Civic Center and the community, said Center director Harry Schuler. The civic center, a fixture on Broadway since 1959, is preparing to become an official Boys & Girls Clubs of America chapter...

Having an affiliation with the national Boys & Girls Clubs of America is going to have a positive affect on the Cape Girardeau Civic Center and the community, said Center director Harry Schuler.

The civic center, a fixture on Broadway since 1959, is preparing to become an official Boys & Girls Clubs of America chapter.

"It will resurface the center as a place for kids to come and feel safe," Schuler said.

Before becoming an officially sanctioned Boys & Girls Clubs chapter, the national organization required the Cape Civic Center community group to undergo basic preparations necessary for starting any business, profit or non-profit. These preparations included organizing a board of directors, developing a constitution and preparing a budget, Schuler said.

To receive a $35,000 grant pledged from the Boys & Girls Clubs, the civic center must finalize its affiliation by Dec. 1. All this requires now is final-stage paperwork -- "crossing the t's and dotting the i's," said Schuler.

In 1996, the United Way ended a $35,000 annual allocation to the civic center, citing that complete financial accounting was not provided by center administrators when requested. At the time, this allocation was the center's sole source of funding.

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No official count has been taken, but reportedly, in recent years, more than 200 young people have used the after-school tutoring and recreation programs offered by the civic center.

Schuler joined the effort to affiliate the Cape Girardeau community group with the Boys & Girls Clubs when he assumed the civic center directorship in January 1999. Since then, he has become emotionally invested in the mission, he said.

"After I learned of the Boys & Girls Club and what it is capable of accomplishing, this has become a personal goal of mine," he said. "They have proven that their approach to working with young people works."

The national organization brings guidance and structure to the Cape Girardeau youth program, said Schuler.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based Boys & Girls Clubs organization provides safe clubhouses for use by youths 6 to 20-years-old as an alternative to running the streets or spending excess hours at home without supervision.

The national Boys' Clubs of America organization was created in 1906 to provide a leadership structure for the 53 local clubs in existence at the time, and to launch new clubs in disadvantaged communities. The name of the organization became the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1990, reflecting that membership was open to both sexes.

Now, Boys & Girls Clubs are located in all 50 states, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. More than 2,300 clubs serve some 3,000,000 youths.

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