Safe Haven
Boys and Girls Club to expand youth programs

Syndi Walker tosses a basketball on an older nonworking arcade game at the Gallup Boys & Girls Club on Princeton Avenue in Gallup. Shanae Laine stands next to Walker while waiting her turn. The facility has pool tables, a basketball court, and a computer room that children use to entertain themselves. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

By Leslie Wood
Staff writer

GALLUP — Five-year-old Richard Chavez spends much of his free time at the Boys and Girls Club on Princeton Avenue “because it’s fun.”

He likes the air hockey and basketball games, but particularly enjoys the computer games.

“It’s all fun,” Chavez said.

Shawnae Laine, 9, played pool at the club’s Princeton Avenue location on Thursday afternoon. She rides her bicycle to the Boys and Girls Club after school and often completes her homework with the help of volunteers.

“Sometimes, they help us,” Laine said of employees and volunteers at the facility.

And with a recent series of grants totaling about $400,000, the organization will be able to expand its programs to better meet the needs of local children like Chavez and Laine. The amount doubles the organization’s current operating budget, Karl Lohmann, chief professional officer for the local chapter, said.

The Department of Justice’s office of justice programs awarded the sum to the local chapter of Boys and Girls Club to fund its two new clubs and support the two older facilities.

The new facilities are located in the Stagecoach public housing area and the Gallup Performing Arts Center. Youth who visit the GPAC club will be able to participate in music and dance lessons, along with courses on media production.

Activities also include visits to the local children’s library.

The clubs offer a place for youth to go and participate in activities while in a safe environment. Statistics also indicate the clubs lesson the occurrence of crime and victimization in the areas where they are housed. They also bring more hope to a community, Lohmann said.

“It’s about the relationship between caring adults and young people,” he said of the organization.

This year, the local facilities have served more than 2,000 children and teenagers through its various partnerships that include the Gallup-McKinley County School District.

“Partnerships are a very important part of us meeting our goals, because we can’t do it ourselves,” Lohmann said.
In the upcoming year, Lohmann said he also hopes to increase law enforcement and veteran involvement in the clubs’ projects.

“We like to bring police officers and kids together,” Lohmann said.

Another goal is to attract older youth to the program, he said.

Many of the clubs older participants are also involved environmental activism based projects and the youth conservation corps that has picked up about 428 tons of trash in the area.

“We try to be everywhere,” Lohmann said of the program’s efforts to reach local youth.