When faced with a challenge that would, if met, improve the lives of the territory’s children, hotel employees on St. Thomas and St. John rose to the occasion.
The V.I. Hotel & Tourism Association and the V.I. Gamefishing Club presented the Boys & Girls Club of the Virgin Islands with a check for $50,000 Wednesday afternoon at the club’s Oswald Harris Court location.
According to Tourism Association Chairman Richard Doumeng, members were sitting around one day when Gamefishing Club board member Nick Pourzal issued them a challenge: the Gamefishing Club had $25,000 to give to the Boys & Girls Club—if the association could match it.
Members of the tourism association then got to work. Marc Langevin, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas, called all of the local hotels and said, “I need money.” He then called on all of his employees with the same plea.
Ritz-Carlton employees raised $7,000 themselves by selling cookies, washing cars and even selling old TVs.
Associates at the other hotels, including Bolongo Bay Beach Resort, Wyndham Sugar Bay and Marriott’s Frenchman’s Reef Beach Resort, also worked hard to meet the challenge.
Gamefishing Club President Sue Boland and Jeff Kreiner, director of the club’s July Open Billfishing tournament, were on hand to present the check along with members of the Hotel & Tourism Association.
Pourzal said, “I hope that you will spread the word in the community about how important it is to have a Boys & Girls Club. We need donors. We need involvement from the community.” Pourzal’s goal is to have four Boys & Girls Clubs open on St. Thomas.
The children were also treated to appearances by Santa, who gave each child a wrapped Christmas present, thanks to donations from attendees of the association’s holiday party, where guests were asked to bring a gift for one child in lieu of an entrance fee.
Tourism Association President Lisa Hamilton beamed as the kids gave a uniform cheer when the check was given. Through her work for the association, Hamilton has also become a Boys & Girls Club board member.
Hamilton said she had never really felt that one person could make a difference until she got involved with the Boys & Girls Club and watched one of the children go from getting 40s and 50s on tests to scoring 80s and 90s. “Now I know,” said Hamilton, “that just helping even one child makes a difference.”
Known as “The Positive Place for Kids,” Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virgin Islands provide young people, ages 6 to 18, with guidance-oriented character development programs conducted by trained, professional staff. The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America is to enable all young people, especially those most in need, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
Due to a lack of funding, the Boys & Girls Club of the Virgin Islands had to close its doors last December. Julie Landreau, executive director of the club, worked hard to reorganize board members and staff. Then her prayers were answered in the form of a $50,000 donation from Florida residents Susan and George Levin, who were planning to relocate to the Virgin Islands.
The funds were put to good use with the reopening of the Boys & Girls Club in Frederiksted in April 2009, followed by a second club on St. Croix, this one in Christiansted, just in time for summer programs.
Then came what Landreau called “the perfect marriage” between the Boys & Girls Club and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which offered the club a large space in Oswald Harris Court. The new St. Thomas location for the Boys & Girls Club opened this year on Sept. 14 and has 55 children registered. HUD even provided the $25 per child annual fee.
Hotel employees on St. Thomas volunteer their time at the club, tutoring the children and working on projects with them. Landreau said each week the club usually has at least 15 volunteers from St. Thomas hotels.
The club is currently open from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, but Landreau hopes to add hours in the future. “We should be open when the kids really need us, during idle times, such as the weekends and in the evening for teens,” she said.
Although the club was appropriated $90,000 in funding for 2009, they only actually received $45,000.
Landreau hopes that 2010 will be different.
