Boys & Girls Club of Carson Valley growing

This past year there has been laughter, tears, playfulness, motivation and lack thereof, frustration, days full of lessons, and heartaches. Enough about the staff, now let me talk about the kids.

The club overall has had a great year. I believe we get better with every new day. The club has seen new members, returning members and changes in staff. The one thing that is always consistent is what drives us every day and that is to provide a safe, caring place for our kids. Between January 2009 and January 2010, with 400 members enrolled we had over 14,000 visits from them. Pretty hard to believe for this 3-year-old club. We are making a difference.

We are also doing our homework, checking our grades, playing with new and old friends, team building through ropes courses, building structures with LEGOs and learning new games. We are playing outside and inside, strengthening our bodies and mind and always trying to come up with new field trips and more exposure. Learning how to handle tough decisions and living through family issues hoping that tomorrow brings a brighter day.

We are learning to share, are learning when to back down and learn when to walk away and also how to stick up for ourselves. We are wiping tears and laughing so hard that we feel we will wet our pants. We have also wet our pants. We are bandaging arms and legs and icing the rest. The bean bag and the office has truly become a place of refuge for those that may just need a break or who are not feeling so good and need a loving touch until their parents or guardians show up.

As I further my education either through BGC's Leadership University or on my own through reading the latest news and research I realize just how special Boys & Girls Clubs are in communities. We try to reach out to everyone. We help parents by keeping our costs low. We reach youth by allowing a place for them to go and we try to partner with the local businesses, service clubs, schools, social service agencies and more. We help our teens to focus on graduation and manage their money.

We teach other classes to our younger groups that focus on positive self image and making good, educated decisions about their bodies and significant others in their lives. I just read that most sexual encounters, drinking, and drug use happen between the hours of 3-6 and mostly in the home of the child or their friends home. This is the time after school when parents, good parents, are still working.

Absolutely no fault of the parents, but kids are left alone to do whatever. Whatever is what causes Nevada to lead the nation in pregnancies, drug experimentation and underage drinking in addition to suicides. None of these listed things occur at the Club. Therefore it is crucial that we, leaders of this organization, understand that we are building a stronger community one child at a time.

Shannon Harris is branch director off the Boys & Girls Club of Carson Valley.