Plans for Budding Business : Boys Clubs Leader Puts Hope to Work
Robert Monk dreams of starting a mini-corporation in which minority teen-agers can learn how to market merchandise, set up accounting, inventory and delivery procedures and, in the end, experience the thrill of dividing the profits.
Monk, executive director of the Boys Clubs of Pasadena, said that establishing such a business will be one of the major projects that the Mackenzie-Scott branch of the Boys Clubs undertakes after it moves into its new $3-million facility early next year.
The branch is in the heart of northwest Pasadena, a predominantly low-income, black and Latino area victimized by high rates of unemployment and crime, according to city officials.
‘Positive Outlet’
“It is common knowledge that northwest Pasadena is ripe with drug pushers,” Monk said. “One of the goals of the Boys Clubs is to stem the tide of drugs by providing a positive outlet.”
“I want these kids to learn how to build and run a corporation,” said Monk, who has been with the Boys Clubs since 1970.
Monk said that businesses often donate merchandise to the branch, and he plans to teach the youngsters how to use computers to help run their business.
He already has accumulated three large crates of a name-brand shampoo and will use that, plus other donations, to get the business going.
‘Win-Win Situation’
He explained that many of the items donated have slight defects, such as mistakes in labeling. Rather than throwing the products away, he said, the businesses donate them.
Monk said he also plans to purchase janitorial supplies and other equipment in bulk, then turn the merchandise over to the youths, who can resell it to other nonprofit organizations at slightly lower-than-retail prices.
“I hope to create a win-win situation here,” Monk said. “Nonprofits will receive merchandise that is a little less expensive, and the kids will learn about the business world.”
Monk said he will try to recruit youngsters ages 15 to 18 to participate in the venture. “When they are at that age, they start looking for ways they can earn money,” he said. “There are things they want to buy and they want to take out their girlfriends.”
Monk hopes to train the youngsters to do everything from taking inventory to delivering the goods.
“Right now this concept is just on the drawing board, but I want to give the kids a general exposure to the business world,” he said. “And I am hoping to get some free advice from leaders in the corporate and business world.”
Rise and Fall
The Mackenzie-Scott branch has risen and fallen twice in the years Monk has been associated with the organization.
The branch, at 2020 N. Fair Oaks Ave., first opened in a converted Safeway store building in 1964. At that time, the staff hastily put up partitions and opened the doors to youngsters in the area, offering after-school tutoring, games and sports.
That club thrived and by 1972 was serving nearly 1,500 boys and girls, Monk said. But after a fire in May of that year, “there was nothing left standing but the walls,” Monk said.
However, benefits from the building’s insurance policy, plus a fund-raising drive, generated enough money to rebuild and reopen the club a year later.
That facility served about 2,000 boys and girls ages 7 to 18 until 1984, when building safety and code violations forced its closure, Monk said. The structure was razed and construction began on a new building late in 1984.
Spacious Surroundings
The new 43,000-square-foot building, which covers half a city block, will have a computer education center, a 9,000-square-foot gymnasium, an Olympic-size swimming pool, soundproof music rooms and a weight room on the first floor.
The business will be housed in the basement, where the inventory will be stored, orders taken and deliveries arranged.
“A facility of this nature will make a positive impact,” said Bruce Philpott, special assistant to Pasadena City Manager Donald McIntyre. Philpott has been assigned to oversee the city’s Northwest Plan, which is designed to revitalize the deteriorating area.
In addition to the corporation, Monk has other dreams for the facility, among them a chance to groom an Olympic water-sports champion in the new pool. He already has promised the Amateur Athletic Foundation, which donated $100,000 toward the pool, that a champion will be forthcoming.
“We want minority kids to get exposed at a young age to water sports,” Monk said. “There are swimming pools around here but they are not open all of the time. There are minority runners and pole vaulters, but where are the kids in water sports? That is our goal.”
The new facility was constructed with a $2-million grant from the Margaret Bundy Scott Foundation and $1 million from a community fund-raising campaign.
Nearly $270,000 of the $1 million was donated by foundations, $235,000 came from the Boys Clubs’ 23 directors and the rest from the community and local businesses, Monk said.
“It really all came together because of the support of the community,” he said. “The people here contributed substantially.”
