Wednesday, July 3, 2024
The Gatesville Boys and Girls Club is about to receive a kitchen upgrade and is still eagerly awaiting the arrival of new vans to help transport youths.
That news and more was recently shared by Julie Hudson, branch director of the club, during an April 26 presentation to the Gatesville Lions Club.
"We're updating our kitchen and putting a big donation that we got last year to good use," Hudson said. "At the start (in the current location) we had to cut back some, and that was one area. We are now able to improve that. We served 4,400 meals in March, so this is definitely needed.
"We are doing a lot of cooking, and we'll have a double convection oven that will be able to cook a lot more at the same time. All the meals have to be served at once, and this will be amazing for that use."
The club is also planning to switch to real plates instead of the Styrofoam and paper plates in order to reduce waste and also reduce costs, Hudson said.
The transformation of the kitchen will take place during the summer.
"We're not serving meals in the summer, because the school serves meals, so that's a great time to get our kitchen work done," Hudson said.
One recent change was work on the club's playground. The club replaced a gravel surface with a rubber one "and it's so nice," she said.
"We are still waiting for our big vans to come in. It's taking a long time, and we're making do the best we can with what we have."
The club is partnering with the Coryell County Museum on a creative project that will focus on writing, poetry and playwriting. This will give an opportunity for children attending the club to present their own production to the public.
"It's July 8 - I hope you can come and support the kids," Hudson said. "Tickets will cost $25, which will include a meal. It will give a chance to shine, and $25 for dinner, a show and a chance to see the museum is a good deal."
The club will also teach kitchen etiquette classes, helping to revive what may be becoming a lost art.
"Kids don't eat at the table anymore, so this will give them an opportunity to learn proper etiquette. We also have STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) programs scheduled throughout the summer. We will also have cooking classes, and a traveling wiffle ball team of fifth- and sixth-graders that will compete here and in Lampasas."
During the school year, the club has partnered with Sylvan Learning Center to offer tutoring to students whenever a tutor is available to help.
"We are looking for a retired teacher to assist with two groups of eight kids," Hudson said. "We're really hoping to get that up and going again - it's so needed. A lot of parents can't afford to take time off and travel to Waco or Temple to get their kids tutoring."
The Boys & Girls Club Resale Shop at 1706 E. Main continues to be a significant revenue source for the club.
"It's doing great," Hudson said. "We were able to pay off the building and it's been really good for the club. It enables us to do things we wouldn't otherwise be able to do. We want to be able to offer the kids a variety of different experiences.
"I'm really lucky to have a great team working with me. Creating programs and being able to run a good program for kids is not easy. It's nice to be able to hire someone to help - I'm super excited about that."
