CAMARILLO : Board Gives $1,100 to Start New Clubs

The board of directors of the Camarillo Boys & Girls Club donated money Wednesday to help establish up to nine new clubs in South Los Angeles.

Camarillo officials handed over the money at a luncheon at the Hilton Towers Hotel in Los Angeles.

Jay Grigsby, the club’s executive director, said the new clubs will be opened in areas not served by any youth organization.

The first club is scheduled to open in the fall.

The Camarillo board of 34 business people, school officials and parents in June collected $1,100 out of their own pockets, Grigsby said.

Their contribution was the first donation toward the new clubs, he said.

“Our board was moved to make the contribution because of the recent riots,” Grigsby said.

“Boys & Girls clubs in that area were not harmed when adjacent buildings were. Maybe if there were more clubs, the riots would have been less severe.”

Grigsby said Boys & Girls clubs in the Los Angeles area serve 60,000 young people.

“However, with 600,000 (students) in the Los Angeles school district, their job is far from over,” he said.