BGCEC pushes for East Milton facility

A Boys and Girls Club of East Milton will be here before anyone knows it.

That was the feeling people got when they attended the Thursday night gathering of the Emerald Coast Boys and Girls Club as they talked about future plans for an East Milton facility.

Back in January, representatives of the Wal-Mart Foundation awarded the Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast a $128,000 Florida State Giving Program grant to help establish a Boys and Girls Club in East Milton.

The check will help turn the East Milton Youth Association gymnasium into a 15,000 square feet Boys and Girls Club facility.

The vision for the first Boys and Girls Club of Santa Rosa County came from Santa Rosa Class 24. And a man who has been at the forefront of the club, John Hensel, was happy to announce that in less than 80 days, the club will become a reality for East Milton boys and girls.

“This organization inspires kids to dream big,” Hensel said. “100% of children who go to Boys and Girls Clubs graduate from high school….1 of 3 who go to Boys and Girls Clubs become the first in their family to go to college.” 

Hensel, along with Leadership Santa Rosa Class 24 and BGCEC have helped set up transportation to help commute children to and from East Milton Elementary School.

For now, the Boys and Girls Club in East Milton will start as a facility open to children in kindergarten to fifth grade.

“The facility will be open to children in that age group, but this is only a start of something that can become much bigger.”

Hensel said that he hopes the Boys and Girls Club eventually expands across the county.

“We want there to be one in Milton, Jay, Gulf Breeze, Navarre….wherever there is a need,” Hensel said. “This program is just too good.”

The Boys and Girls Clubs aims to help children get on the right tracs to success.  The program helps utilize after-school programs and activities to help keep children’s noses in the books. But more importantly, it aims to help parents or single parents who are unable to take care of their children or afford after school childcare, to help keep their children on the right track.

During the regular school year, the facility will be open after school hours through 6:30 p.m. costing parents just $25 a week for a snack, homework help, and anything else a child may need.

During the summer, for only $50, a child will get a full week’s worth of care for the entire day with a meal and snacks included for only $50.

Although children at East Milton Elementary are the only children who are able to receive transportation to and from their school, Hensel said he and BGCEC is working to get transportation to more schools and children across the county.

The facility will still be open to any child in the Santa Rosa County area that is able to get transportation to and from the facility.

The BGCEC’s mission is "to inspire and empower all young people and their families, in partnership with community, to achieve their full potential to be great!”  That was truly the message John Hensel, a local who has pushed to get the facility in East Milton presented to those in attendance at the Imogene Theater Thursday night.

Boys & Girls Clubs provides a safe place to learn and grow; ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals; life-enhancing programs and character development experiences; hope and opportunity.

When children get out of school and are transported to the facility, the first thing they do when they enter is what the BGC calls a “power hour” where they do nothing but homework and studying.

“This program helps kids succeed,” Hensel said. “They will have faculty there to help them with their school work.”

The vision for the Boys and Girls Club came in 2010 when Leadership Santa Rosa Class 24 drew up the idea as part of their Legacy Project.

“We chose the East Milton area, because we felt that was an area that would benefit the most from having a Boys and Girls Club,” Hensel said. “This is going to be a beacon of hope for families that are struggling.”

The BGCEC empowers kids through proven programs in academics, healthy living, and good character; currently serving more than 1,800 youth ages 5-18 in Escambia, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties. In time the BGCEC plans to open additional clubs in multiple Santa Rosa County communities.