Club receives annual donation

Date: 10/20/2009

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE -- Presenting or accepting a donation is a standard part of politics, but the check passing at the Chicopee Boys and Girls Club last week was a little different.

Taking his suit jacket off as he entered the club's gym, Mayor Michael Bissonnette almost immediately began playing basketball with the young people there.

"I'm coming back to my roots where I learned to play basketball," he said between shots.

Bissonnette was there to formally announce a $25,000 donation in city funds to the club's after school program. School Committee members Marjorie Wojcik and Sharon Nawrocki accompanied him.

The mayor said the funding helps the club be a place where children "can feel safe from street crime, from family problems."

Club Executive Director Elizabeth Johnson said the club receives "great support from the city."

"We need the support," she added.

Johnson said the after school programs are attended by 125 students at the club's main facility on Meadow Street, by another 50 at its teen center and another 45 at the program the club has at the Berry School.

The students do their homework, can use the club's computers and programs as well as participate in activities such as playing basketball, she explained.

The club is presently working with the School Department in developing a before school program, she said, which is the result of requests from parents. She said there is a gap in care in some households,as some parents have to leave for work before their children go to school.

The proposed program would give these students breakfast and a structured environment before school and the club is working out the transportation details, she said.

The club has been receiving the $25,000 donation from the city made through the Parks and Recreations Department for the past several years, Johnson explained, who described the funding as "crucial."

One an annual basis, 4,000 Chicopee youth are served by the club, she added.