Seasonal Enrollment Jump Puts Strain on Club’s Youth Programs

Since he was 7, Andre Grant has gone just about every day to the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley.

“Everyone at the club knows me and likes me, so it’s fun to go there,” he said. “When it’s summertime the club gets really busy because it opens earlier and more people show up.”

The club’s summer activities are almost too popular for its own good--they sometimes run out of supplies.

“It’s great when the club has a lot of kids,” program director Adam DeSantis said, “but we get so many more during the summer, it’s sad to have to limit the number of activities.”

DeSantis said the club’s enrollment in the summer nearly doubles from 100 to 200 youngsters.

This summer the Pacoima-based club will add a four-team basketball league with 12 members to a team and ceramics and airbrush painting classes to its program, which already includes games of pool, computer play and field trips.

Andre, now 15, said he started going to the club with his cousin eight years ago and now it’s become a second home.

It’s a low-cost alternative to watching TV at home or hanging out with friends, he said, and it has taught him to be responsible and given him an opportunity to make a lot of new friends.

Now Andre volunteers at the club, helping counselors set up activities and feeding lunch to the kids in the multipurpose room.

“I like it here,” he said. “It’s cool.”

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Wish list

Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley

(818) 896-5261

* Internet access: $20 per month

* Video games: $50 apiece

* Carom boards: $40 apiece

* Airbrush paint: $4 a bottle

* Basketballs: $15 each

* Basketball uniforms: $50 apiece

* Molding clay: $16 per box