SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Boys and Girls Club Grows; Donations Aren’t Keeping Up

The Boys and Girls Club of Capistrano Valley is growing rapidly, but donations are not, and that has some board members worried.

The club, which moved from a trailer into a 5,000-square-foot building in December, saw its checking account drop to $900 last week before it secured $25,000 from the Santa Margarita Co.

Still, the new infusion of money will only pay the facility’s operating costs for about two months, board president Jeanne Workman said.

“There’s a certain perception that this club has a great endowment and no money problems,” said Tony Forster, one of the organization’s founding board members. “We’ve got to dispel that. We have tremendous money problems.”

Forster and other board members this week said that they hope to find more benefactors. The 2-year-old club is badly needed in San Juan Capistrano to keep at-risk youth off the streets, and each dollar spent is worth far more in return, Forster said.

Mark Buffington, the club’s executive director, said that about 60 boys and girls, ages 10 to 16, come to the El Camino Real club on weekdays, when it is open from 2:30 to 7 p.m. The club is closed Saturdays and Sundays.

Buffington said the club could accommodate up to 150 boys and girls between ages 7 and 18, if it had enough staff. But that takes money.

“The trouble is, it always seems like we’ve got to raise funds for the next month,” Buffington said. “The biggest thing we need is consistent contributors.”

The club could also use some donated computers, tables, chairs, sofas and magazine subscriptions.

Ken Friess, the city’s former mayor who is a board member, said that the club has already shaped several lives.

“We’re seeing declines in crime issues, declines in graffiti and (more) young kids becoming productive,” Friess said.