News Release

Boys & Girls Clubs of DeSoto County One Step Closer to Reality
 

Southaven, Apr 22, 2003 - SOUTHAVEN, Miss.—Attorney General Mike Moore met with representatives of the cities of Hernando, Horn Lake, Olive Branch and Southaven at Community Bank on April 22 to discuss bringing Boys and Girls Clubs of America to DeSoto County.

Olive Branch Mayor Sam Rikard and Horn Lake Mayor Mike Thomas were present, as well as Southaven Public Services Manager Kristi Faulkner, Olive Branch Community Development Director Peggy Linton, Hernando Alderman Sam Lauderdale and Danny Phillips, national commissioner for Dizzy Dean youth baseball and director of the Hernando Civic Center.

In addition to the attorney general, Maddox Foundation President Robin Grindstaff Costa, Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi Community Development Director William Bailey, Community Foundation administrative assistant Linda Crumpton, and Sandra Shelson, Sandy Ray and Morgan Shands from the attorney general’s office were in attendance.

The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi has spearheaded the effort to bring Boys & Girls Clubs to the area. The Foundation’s goal is to start a club in each of the four major cities in DeSoto County. The members of the meeting discussed forming a board of directors in which representatives from the cities jointly govern four clubs within the county, in addition to searching for affordable locations and raising $25,000 to start each club.

An example of the program’s effectiveness is a statistic on youth crime in Picayune, Miss., which stated youth crime dropped 42 percent after the establishment of a Boys & Girls Club there.

“DeSoto County has the highest juvenile crime rate in the state,” Costa said. “Seventy-five percent of crime in DeSoto County is committed by children of middle-class and affluent parents. Most juvenile crimes happen between 3 and 7 p.m., as does teen pregnancy.

“When I first moved here, the thing that shocked me the most was that we don’t have any after-school care programs. I don’t think every mother in this county gets off at 3 p.m. every day to be home with her kids. I’ve been involved with this program in other places and I know it makes a difference. DeSoto County has the highest per capita income in the state, the highest growth rate in the state—it has all these wonderful things. But I think it has a big black eye in the highest juvenile crime rate. I think there is a tremendous need for after care programs here.”

Shands said students who attend Boys & Girls Clubs have a 15 percent increase in grade point average within the first two six weeks of beginning regular attendance to the clubs, and there is an 88 percent better attendance among children who attend the clubs. The students are required to finish their homework before participating in any club activities—which include fine arts, health, careers, environment, leadership development and athletics, to name a few—with the help of a club volunteer or mentor.

“Kids who have the choice of going home, sitting down and doing nothing and going and doing something at Boys & Girls Clubs, will go to the clubs, even though they have to do their homework, because they want something to do,” Shands (an attorney and special assistant to the attorney general) said.

Moore said tying the clubs into local schools has proved to be extremely successful in other clubs in the state, as well as busing children straight to the club site after school.

“The principals, the teachers, the parents love it,” Moore said. “They say the crime goes down because the children are spending time doing something positive and not something negative. It makes more sense to pay $300 to $400 a year per child than $15,000 to $20,000 a year to put them up in a jail cell somewhere.”

Dues per child are usually $10 a year, and there are scholarship programs available. Funds raised by the community cover administrative, facility and program costs, which equal about $300 to $400 per child.

Maddox Foundation recently gave potential supporters a large incentive to help raise money for clubs in each of the four major DeSoto County cities by agreeing to match every local dollar raised for Boys & Girls Clubs. Once the initial $25,000 is raised, the Attorney General’s office will also contribute $25,000, and Boys & Girls Clubs will also give between $25,000 and $40,000 per club. The Hernando Optimist Club has already donated $5,000 toward the effort starting a club in Hernando.

Moore promised his office would do whatever possible to help the board raise money, from bringing in speakers from the national board (which includes General Colin Powell and baseball player Hank Aaron) to talking to county officials.

Moore said the future of every segment of the community can be positively affected by bringing children into the programs.

“It’s a quality of life issue,” Moore said. “It affects the overall quality of life. Your car doesn’t get stolen, your house doesn’t get broken into, you don’t get raped. It becomes a safer community to live in.”e-mail: