Do you have fond memories of Boys & Girls Club from your childhood? Many of us do. Whether you do or not, it was established 145 years ago and continues to offer a safe, healthy and stress free environment for kids and has become a place of hope and opportunity for boys and girls across the nation. South Park is excited to announce that we have our own Boys & Girls Club. The program is run by executive director, Amy Berger, and was formerly known as SPARK (South Park Activities and Recourses for Kids). If you are not familiar with the program, feel free to stop by and get to know us or give us a call at (719) 836-4433. The program is currently located at 640 Hathaway Street in the modular next to the South Park High School football field and is open to all school age children from 4:00 to 6:30 P.M. Monday through Thursday each week and activities are scheduled for most Fridays.

The mission of Boys and Girls Club of South Park is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, healthy, responsible and caring citizens. This is more than just a place for kids to go after school while parents finish up their day at work it's a positive place for kids. Today's Boys and Girls Clubs emphasize educational achievement and career preparation in addition to the sports, recreation, leadership and character development programs that have been the hallmark of the Clubs for more than a century.

Boys and Girls Club of South Park is having its first fundraiser on February 4th. We will be hosting the annual South Park area Chili Cook-off where locals have a chance to show off their culinary skills and win prizes. The event will be held at the American Legion Hall at the corner of 6th and Clark Streets in Fairplay. The kids will be selling homemade desserts and we will be holding a silent auction during the Chili judging. If you would like to donate an item for the silent auction please contact us and we can make arrangements to pick it up. Remember all donations made to the club are tax deductible. Come and join us for a fun evening and meet the kids, staff and board of the Boys & Girls Club of South Park plus everyone who attends will have a chance to vote on the Poster Art for the 2006 South Park Music Festival.

There are numerous ways for you to get involved with Boys & Girls Club of South Park and help the kids of today meet their full potential and become responsible citizens and leaders of their community. The club cannot sustain itself without the support of the community and if you would like to make an investment in the future of South Park you can become a board volunteer, staff volunteer, financial donor, tutor or coach.

Amy Berger has not only run this program for the past 6 ½ years, originally CKIDS (Colorado Kids Ignore Drugs), then SPARK and now Boys & Girls Club of South Park, she has also sponsored the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) and the DI (Destination Imagination) teams that have competed at the state level and beyond. She helps many high school students prepare for college including scheduling of ACT and SAT testing, acquiring and organizing support documentation and college application preparation and submission. Amy makes herself available to talk to kids about the issues that our kids face today. When students need additional help with their academic work she makes herself available to tutor them. She also involves the kids in the 9 News Student Health Fair and GET REAL Tobacco Coalition as well other programs. These various programs and clubs that are sponsored by Ms. Berger may not have been available to the kids without her. She also involves the kids in each program with goal setting, rule making, and consequences of broken rules so that they take pride in the programs they are a part of.

Since the inception of CKIDS 6 ½ years ago, these programs have been largely funded by grants from federal agencies, state agencies and private foundations. Without these grants participation fees would be cost prohibitive for most South Park families. Our goal is to acquire our own facility as our program continues to grow and space is limited at the Park County RE2 Fairplay campus and unavailable at local churches that we have contacted as well as the South Park Recreation Center. Grant money is never a sure thing until you have it in hand and it takes a great deal of patience and time to write and administer these grants. Boys & Girls Club of South Park will continue to pursue grants for funding to maintain a positive place for kids but your support in whatever form you can offer will greatly help the club and continue to change lives.