Boys & Girls Club of Los Fresnos expanding

LOS FRESNOS — Every weekday for the last nine years, the Boys & Girls Club in this city has held after school programs and tutoring sessions for about 30 students at its main building, a converted medical clinic a little larger than a two-car garage.

The modest structure sits on West Third Street and pales in comparison to its deluxe recreational counterparts in major Texas cities. But come 3:15 p.m., students swarm inside, smiles wide.

"All I can say is that it is fun," says 10-year-old Oscar Alavarez, who has come to the after school program for the last five years. "There is lots of stuff to do, and it is fun to go outside."

Chartered in 2001, the club is a significant institution in Los Fresnos, a safe haven where volunteers and older students can serve as mentors to younger children. Now after a stretch of financial struggles, the program is growing once more.

By April, weather permitting, the organization should have a new 88,000 square-foot home at Memorial Park, with enough space to better service the city’s student population of a little more than 9,000 children.

"It may be small for bigger cities across the state, but for us, it is just the right size," said Eddie Baron, the club’s executive director.

At its peak in 2004, the Boys & Girls Club also had programs at three city schools aside from services offered at its main building. But it hit a rough financial patch that deepened with the country’s economic collapse and has since shut down all but the additional program at Laureles Elementary.

Barron hopes the new facility will bring in the revenue to turn the decline around, he said. A total of about 70 students attend Boys & Girls Club after school programs at the main building and Laureles. Another 300 children participate in its sports teams, including boxing, football, basketball and volleyball.

The new complex opening in the coming months will cost about $825,000 and will include a full-sized gym as part of the first phase of construction. The next stages will add more offices, an exercise center and storage space.

Barron and other board members worked closely with Los Fresnos and Cameron County officials to secure the grants that have made the new building’s construction possible. The city’s American Electric Company has also agreed to donate $6,000 of the $10,000 needed for electrical costs.

In total, the complex will cost upwards of $1.4 million. In a sense, the construction of the building seems easy compared to the cobbling of its financial package, Los Fresnos city leaders said.

"This has been a dream that city leaders had 10 to 15 years ago, when the Boys & Girls Club first started," Los Fresnos City Manager Mark W. Milum said. "There has been a lot of work and a lot of people prior to us getting the luxury of seeing this happen."

With its own facility, the club will no longer have to schedule events at city high school gyms and will be able to bring its boxing program back home to Los Fresnos. The boxing team currently holds practices at a Brownsville warehouse loaned by attorney Mitchell Chaney and his law firm.

"Now we will be able to extend our hours and offer things like, midnight basketball," said Barron, who also coaches the boxing team.

Longer hours will attract more working parents, Barron said. Children at the club do their homework and every weekday, except for Fun Fridays, participate in activities where they learn study skills, healthy eating tips and how to stay away from drugs. Parents might also be comforted to know nearly all of the club’s board members are police officers, such as Cmdr. Juan Rodriguez.

"Sometimes, I catch myself more as a counselor, not as police officer," said Rodriguez, president of the organization’s board.

It takes a load off his shoulders, says Chicho Garcia, to know his children have a place to go after school where they can interact with other students.

"I am glad (my children) have adult supervision, especially because my wife and I work and we do not want to leave them home alone," said Garcia, a cook at Valley Regional Medical Center in Los Fresnos. "And when they get home (from the program), they already have their homework done."