By KEVIN NEVERS

The Duneland Unit of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Porter County (BGCPC)—operating at the Methodist Activity Center (MAC) at Second Street and Lincoln Ave. in Chesterton—has only been open since Oct. 2 but it hasn’t taken long for word to get out that it’s the premier place in Duneland for kids 6 to 18 to go after school.

BGCPC President Chuck Leer told the Chesterton Tribune on Monday that “it was pretty slow” on opening day, with only 10 to 15 kids in attendance. By the end of November, however, 263 had joined the Duneland Unit and an average of 85 kids per day were attending. By the end of December, moreover, fully 306 were members and an average of 98 kids per day were attending.

Not bad, considering that the BGCPC had set a target of 200 members by the end of 2006. “So obviously we surpassed that by 50 percent,” Leer said.

So far in January the numbers have continued to grow, with an average daily attendance of around 130 and a high count of 145 in the course of a single day. Leer noted that total daily count includes members who hang out all afternoon as well as those who show up for only an hour or two. Generally, though, kids who come stay for the whole four hours, from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“We’re not completely at capacity all of the time,” Leer said, “but we’re very, very high operating.”

So high operating, in fact, that BGCPC is now looking to add another part-timer to its staff of five.

The Duneland Unit makes use of three rooms at the MAC: the gymnasium upstairs—a place “for blowing off steam” and “physical fitness,” Leer said—which has facilities for basketball and volleyball; a game and concession room downstairs equipped with a pool table, foosball, air hockey, and a Dance Revolution outfit—“the kids get off that and they’re sweating like crazy”—as well as board games and other activities; and the computer lab—“the quiet area”—whose PCs are loaded with educational software and allow “supervised Internet access with parental permission.”

In addition to using the computer lab for doing homework, Leer added, kids are also increasingly availing themselves of the drop-in and by-appointment tutoring services available there.

For all of that the price of membership per child is only $15 for 12 months.

BGCPC is using the MAC under a two-year agreement reached in July with the Chesterton First United Methodist Church (CFUMC), which owns the MAC and undertook to lease the space and pay the utilities in exchange for a nominal fee of $1 per year. And so far—“knock on wood,” Leer said—the relationship between BGCPC and CFUMC is going swimmingly. “It couldn’t be any better. (CFUMC has) been as helpful as (it) possibly could and we’ve tried to be as helpful as we could in return. It couldn’t be any better.”

“You couldn’t have written a script any better,” Leer noted. “We’re certainly meeting the needs of the community and the needs of the church and its mission as well. They had a facility and no kids. We had the kids and no facility.”

CFUMC Pastor Terry Rhine concurred. “I’m just excited at the increases they’re having over there,” he said. “When I visit there’s such a positive spirit in the place. The Boys and Girls Club staff really care about the kids. They talk to the kids about how they’re doing in school, what their interests and activities are. They know them by name. It’s like a big extended family over there, well organized and well supervised.”

There is, though, one possible hitch on the horizon, Leer said. The start-up costs for the Duneland Unit were largely defrayed by one-time grants from a number of entities, including the United Way of Porter County and the Porter County Community Foundation. “The trick for us now is how to transition out of the start-up and begin paying our way. That’s always the challenge of not-for-profits. It’s a lot easier to get the money for start-up and capital outlays than it is to get money for the ongoing operating expenses.”

And the $15 12-month membership fee doesn’t begin to cover the cost of operation, Leer said.

Still, Leer expects the start-up grants to be sufficient to run the Duneland Unit through the summer and possibly into the fall. In the meantime the BGCPC will be pursuing fundraising opportunities and Leer is hopeful that the community—families, civic groups, businesses—will find the resources and the wherewithal to keep the ball rolling. “We’re very, very grateful to the church, to the (Chesterton / Duneland) Chamber of Commerce, and to the community. We’ve had so much support.”

To make a contribution, or obtain more information, phone Leer at 464-7282.

Posted 1/11/2007