Club helping kids ‘who need us most’
The Boys and Girls Club of Lenoir County has a full house every weekday afternoon at its Kinston facility but, in terms of need, the club is “just scratching the surface in Kinston,” the club’s executive director told the Kinston Rotary Club on March 14.
“What's happening with kids in America is not acceptable,” Misty Marston said. ‘For the first time in our country’s history, kids are not as likely to be as successful as their parents.”
The Boys & Girls Club nationally — there are nearly 4,000 of them — focus on youth ages 6 to 18 who, in many cases, are apt to take a wrong turn without guidance from outside the home. More than 13 million children are left unsupervised during the summer, Marston said, and most juvenile crime occurs between the hours of 3 and 7 p.m. Clubs combat that trend with an all-day summer program and, during the school year, an after-school program where finishing homework comes first.
“Our goal is to serve kids when they need us most,” Marston said.
The Kinston club has about 200 members and an average daily attendance of about 70, which puts the club’s building on Old Snow Hill Road at capacity. Eighty-six percent of club members are from single-parent homes and 74 percent live in public housing; yet 37 of the daily members are on their schools’ honor rolls or principal’s lists.
Locally as well as regionally, Marston’s goal is to serve more young people. A Kinston resident, she is also executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Pitt County, with which the Lenoir County club is in its third year of a management agreement. The two clubs are in the final stages of a merger that would formalize Marston’s joint service and consolidate some back-office functions, but would leave the Lenoir County club autonomous in terms of its board and fundraising responsibilities. The Pitt club recently merged with the club in Beaufort County under a similar agreement.
Bridge club names winners
The Fairfield Duplicate Bridge Club played a regular game April 2.
The winners were: Jenny Holt and Eva Balknight, first place; Jeannie Exum and Nancy Barwick, second; Joe Goldwasser and Lamar Finch, third; and Pinkey Harper and Geneva Hood, fourth.
A regular game will be played at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday at Fairfield Center. The club welcomes and encourages all bridge players.
For more club information, call 252-523-6791.