Club Buddies offers something special to kids, community
Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Daily Record photograph by Sarah Nader From left, Geo Soto, 12; Joell Borrego, 9; Goyo Borrego, 11; Eddie Borrego, 12; and Isiah Soto, 11, all of Rogers, talked to each other while at the Rogers Boys and Girls Club on Tuesday afternoon. The kids are part of the Club Buddies program, which is designed to help mentor children who have incarcerated parents.
BENTON COUNTY — A wall in the gym of the Rogers Boys and Girls Club Unit is painted with a piece of advice for all who enter the building. The lettering is not elaborate or professionally done, but it gets the message across.
That message is from literary giant Maya Angelou, and the painted wall reads, “ If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain. ”
It is with this advice in mind that the staff of the Boys and Girls Club of Benton County works tirelessly to make life a little better for all of the children who enter its doors.
Over the last three years, the club has gone to great lengths to help children who have an incarcerated parent — a group of children who may otherwise be overlooked — and in a county with around 1, 500 affected children, that simply will not do. At least that is Shanon Ford’s stance.
As the outreach director for the Boys and Girls Club, Ford is doing everything she can to make sure these kids are taken care of. Together with Kimmy Johnson, a program coordinator for the club, Ford is heading up a program called Club Buddies.
The goal of Club Buddies, which is funded by a grant from the federal government, is to partner with a mentor the children who have one or both parents behind bars.
Similar to the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, Club Buddies is a way for children to learn from and get one-on-one time with an adult. By offering a program like Club Buddies, the Boys and Girls Club is able to make the children enrolled feel special, Ford said.
“ The kids love the extra attention they are getting outside of the family, especially the kids who have mentors that come and pick them up or come here and hang out. The other kids get so jealous, ” Johnson said.
The children are not the only ones who gain from the Club Buddies program. The mentors also find the experience a valuable one.
One such mentor is Debbie Loomis of Bella Vista, who mentors 8-year-old Ivy.
“ I have learned and gained as much from Ivy as I could ever give her. She has taught me so much about myself. With Ivy, I see the world through a child’s eyes, and it’s just so cool to see that, and it is so neat just seeing her grow, ” Loomis said.
Together, Loomis and Ivy have gone bowling, played miniature golf and visited Chuck E. Cheese. The two have gone swimming, hiking and even kayaking.
“ I get to be with a child and share something with them and do fun things while, at the same time, giving something back to the community, ” Loomis said.
With 128 children currently enrolled in the program and only 50 mentors, the Boys and Girls Club of Benton County needs more people like Loomis to step up and volunteer as mentors for Club Buddies.
In order to become a mentor, all a person needs is a little spare time to devote to a child once a week.
“(Mentors ) just have to want to do this and have the time to spend with the kids. They do not have to have money. You can go to the library or the park. You do not have to spend money to be a mentor. All you need is time, ” Johnson said.
“ When they get paired with a mentor, the kids blossom, ” Ford said. “ I have had one parent who said their kid never smiled before, and now they are smiling a lot. ”
Potential mentors must pass a background check and participate in an orientation training session. From there, the mentors are matched with a child based on his or her likes, and after meeting with the child’s parents and getting approval, the mentor is able to meet with the child.
There are currently more than 70 children involved in Club Buddies who are waiting to be paired with a mentor. For more information on how to become a mentor or how to enroll a child in the Boys and Girls Club’s Club Buddies program, call Ford at 633-0044.
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