WOODLAND HILLS : Club Is a Relief to Parents, New Pastime for Kids

Afternoons used to be a lonely time for Ashley Pleis, a latchkey kid who attends Calvert Street Elementary School. She said she would hang out by herself on the playground until it was time to go home.

It was hard to find other children to play with, she said, because most of the other kids who stayed were enrolled in after-school programs. She would feel left out, she said, as she watched the children having fun.

“I would sit down and do nothing,” said the fourth-grader.

Then she received a need-based scholarship to an after-school program run by the newly established West Valley Boys & Girls Club, which began operating in January in a room at the Woodland Hills school.

The club, affiliated with the New York-based Boys & Girls Club of America, offers programs in citizenship and leadership development, health and physical education, cultural enrichment, social recreation, and outdoor and environmental recreation.

Now, each day after school, Ashley said, she has other children to play with and lots to do.

“I like it because I know a lot of these people here,” said Ashley, one recent afternoon. “A lot of these people are my classmates.”

The West Valley Boys & Girls Club--the first of its kind in the western San Fernando Valley--fills a vital need, said Robert Gross, the program’s executive director. It’s an affordable alternative, he said, to higher-priced after-school programs. For lower-income parents, he said, it’s a welcome relief.

“They have something they can get their kids involved in while they are at work,” said Gross, a former volunteer for the program. “They don’t have to worry about it.”

The club has grown fast. About 115 kids are signed up for the club, Gross said, and an average of 75 attend each day. Most of the children live in Woodland Hills and surrounding communities.

Robert Voit, president of the Voit Cos., introduced the idea in 1989, club officials said. Gross said that he, along with Voit, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick, Healthnet representative Roger Greaves, and Mark Slavkin, a member of the Los Angeles Board of Education, were instrumental in the club’s founding.

There were various obstacles to forming a new club, Gross said, not the least of which was fund-raising.

“It takes time to acquire the confidence of the corporate community to support a new, start-up organization,” said Gross. “Now, we have developed that confidence and we’re off and running.”

The club is registering for a summer camp program, divided into two sessions, from July 5 to Aug. 4 and from Aug. 7 to Aug. 31. The first session costs $150 for the first child in a family, an additional $130 for the second and $110 more for the third. Second session is $140 for the first child, $120 for the second and $100 for the third.

The club is offering scholarships for low-income families, and there will be a federally funded free lunch program five days a week during camp sessions.

For information about the club or the camp call (818) 340-3562 days or 348-0405 evenings. The club, 19850 Delano St., Room 20, will hold a grand opening 4 to 5:30 p.m. June 29.