The Boys & Girls Club will officially return to operations for its summer program, which begins June 8.
The Club will be operating at its youth and teen centers in El Dorado, along with its new Smackover-Norphlet facility.
The cost to attend the summer program is $10 per week at the youth center and $25 per week at Smackover-Norphlet. There is no charge at the teen center.
Space is limited, with only 50 spots available at the youth center, 30 at Smackover-Norphlet and 20 at the teen center.
“With everything that is going on with the virus, we’re going to have to limit space and participation,” said David Lee, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of El Dorado. “We’re going to do a 10-1 ratio between counselor and children. Social distancing is going to be very important. We’re going to do activities that doesn’t include a lot of contact between the kids. We’re going to keep them spaced out. We’re going to wash our hands very often and be as safe as we can.”
Lee said the Club has other safety protocols in place as well.
“We’ll be screening the kiddos before they enter every morning,” Lee said. “No adults will be allowed into the buildings. If they need to be involved or come inside the buildings, they’re going to have to call and make an appointment. The staff will be screened and all staff will be required to wear a mask all the time when they’re around the children. The children have the option of wearing a mask or not. We’re not going to require them to.”
While social distancing may prevent some activities, Lee said there were others that can be done.
“STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) projects, arts and crafts. In the gym, there are activities that you can run that doesn’t involve sharing equipment,” Lee said. “We’re going to try and limit that as much as possible. I won’t say that we won’t, but everything will be sanitized on a regular basis. There are things we definitely can do. We go outside quite often and play some games. I feel like the directives, if we can keep that group 10 and under and wash their hands as much as possible, we feel like it should be a pretty safe atmosphere.”
Spots have been going quickly.
“We have very few spots left,” Lee said. “They’re filling up rather quickly. As a matter of fact, Smackover-Norphlet is already on a waiting list. Our youth center has a few spots left open. Any child can sign up and be a member and current members are signed up as well.”
Lee and his staff haven’t seen their kids since mid-March, and they are ready to get started.
“It’s really exciting,” Lee said. “At the same time, we want to be as safe as possible. We haven’t seen our kids for three months. It’s been hard not only on me, but our staff because during times like these, we’re used to being there for the kiddos in the hard times and helping them. This is a situation that hasn’t allowed us to do that, so we’re finally able to start serving kids. It excites us, but at the same time, we want to make sure it’s a safe environment for everybody.”