The Boys & Girls Club of Carpentersville was before the Audit & Finance Commission Thursday night to petition for Village support in the amount of $75,000.
The local Boys & Girls Club is facing a $250,000, or 70 percent, cut in federal grant money. Club board member and former Carpentersville Trustee Russ Morehead told commissioners that unless it received $75,000 from Carpentersville and the Dundee Township Park District, the club faces cutting programs and perhaps closing the doors to some of its three sites here. The club offers tutoring, vocational training and recreational programs to 1,200 student members, mainly from Carpentersville.
Residents of Carpentersville have worried regularly about gang activity in their town and the Boys & Girls Club provides support and options for those who otherwise might fall in with gangs.
[Club Executive Director Mike Berger] said by keeping students off the street, the club actually provided a benefit to the village’s police budget. He pointed to the gang-related shootings that have plagued the village this summer.
“We see gangs, we see them in the community,” he told the commissioners. “Kids join gangs because they want to belong and want someone to care for them. The gangs will be there for them in the short run, but not down the road. The Boys & Girls Club is always there for them.”
Club representatives also explained to the Board that they were unaware of the availability of grant money from the Grand Victoria Casino.
“If we had known there was $100,000 there, we wouldn’t have turned our back on it,” Berger said. “We’ll make sure we do it next year.”
Unfortunately, funds are not in this year’s budget, and there does not appear to be much wiggle room for finding it. However, the Commission did say that it would do what it could to look at the budget again to look for any available funds.
My view on this is that it is a worthy cause in the Village that directly impacts all of the residents and addresses locally their concerns. As such, it would be good for members of the community to do what they can to reach out, dig in and look for any available funds in their own budgets to keep the Club programs from being cut or scaled back. If you want something good out, you have to put something in.
[Read the full article in the Courier-News]
19 comments
Sep 28, 2007 at 8:51 am
Matilda
Yes, I do hope the Village can come up with some money for the children on the East side of the Village. The West side recently received a stacking lane at a school to create a safer environment for picking up and dropping off children. Now I hope the children on the East side of the Village will also be helped.
Sep 28, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Jack Snow
Na
Why should Paul or Judy help the East Side.They didn’t for all those previous years on the board. In fact Judy moved out,remember
Sep 29, 2007 at 8:02 am
Frank F. Stoneham
Where the heck are we going to get $75,000?
Yeah, the Boy & Girls Club is a great thing for the community, but why should it be paid for by our budget? Maybe, they or people like yourselves, should have a fundraiser for them.
Or, ask our State representitive and Senator Munson and Noland for some Illinois funding.
Carpentersville has the third highest tax rate in Kane County, this is not the time to fund all these feel good programs.
We still need to go back to our taxpayers for addintional funding for the continued rebuilding of our infrastructures on the eastside. This also includes a new Public Works building that Bill Sarto wants to build.
But, to turn this issue into politic hay, is once again silly, nice shot John.
Yours truly,
Frank “in debt to our necks” Stoneham
Sep 29, 2007 at 8:26 am
Jack Snow
What about the stacking lane on school property?Should the Village have paid?
Sep 29, 2007 at 8:39 am
Richard Grass
What do you think John? Mr. I have Friends in all Departments, A Village paying for an Engineering mistake made by the School District.It sure sound like the Schools responsibility.
Sep 29, 2007 at 8:46 am
Chrysippus
Richard,
What promises were made at the meeting last spring? What did the school board commit to?
And, why didn’t the permanent stacking lane get done? Who didn’t hold up their end of the bargain? Also, who’s holding on to their property that prevented the permanent stacking lane from being developed? Why are there rumors that the Village will have to go thru eminent domain proceedings in order to obtain the land that is traditionally gifted to municipalities and/or school districts?
Despite all that, the Village came through — and once again, the District let residents down.
I seem to recall just a few short years ago a huge referendum getting passed … and the District’s whining about money hasn’t ceased since.
But, the point of my original posting is that residents and businesses in Carpentersville should do what they can to help make up this shortfall. It’s definitely worth it to the community.
Sep 29, 2007 at 9:10 am
Richard Grass
Well, we all knew it needed to be done but it should have not been the Village. Or when they Built the School, C’ville should have stipulated that this is required before any permitts are given out. Maybe we could learn from this and not let it happen Again. I any case it was a complete cluster buck and extremely poor planning. My favorite saying Is “do it Right the First Time”
Sep 29, 2007 at 9:19 am
Chrysippus
Richard …
I think you and I actually agree on something.
Quick, mark the date!
Sep 29, 2007 at 11:25 am
Jack Snow
Ok I will try to be respectful. The group needs money to help the children. All of the children East Side/West Side.We as residents of C’ville need to come up with ways to help the group.Frank, maybe a fundraiser would be good idea.Maybe we might be able to find the money in the reserve fund. I don’t know,any ideas.Come on guys/gals lets put our heads together and find a way.
Sep 29, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Frank F. Stoneham
John, going to the reserve fund would set a precedent that I would not feel comfortable with. Just like Washington or Springfield, we’ll end up in the red.
We could try a fundraiser, with the help of local businesses and churches. Again, we have to also press our politicians to get federal, state and county to help in getting some of this funding restated.
I’d rather see my tax money going to organizations that help our children, instead of Iraq or some stupid pork barrel projects that our politicians love to fund.
Yours truly,
Frank “for the kids” Stoneham
Sep 29, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Joy
I like these ideas – now let’s see folks get involved in helping the kids by championing fundraisers, etc. Don’t wait for someone else to help, take charge, make a difference. So, Frank & Jack, are you going to do it or what?
Sep 29, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Frank F. Stoneham
Gee Joy, it’s really hard to work with someone like yourself and Jack or John or whoever remains anonymous on this website.
But, if you people want to come out of your closet and e-mail me….we’ll see if we can do something besides attacking everyone, we don’t agree with.
Yours truly,
Frank “e-mail me” Stoneham
franktalk1@aol.com
Sep 29, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Bill Sarto
Before anyone panics, we most likely do have money in our current budget to give some money to the Boys and Girls Club.
It seems that it’s not that unusual for some departments to come in “under budget”. That’s how we have created the “reserve fund”.
Our outside auditors have mentioned the amount that we hold in “reserve as being unusually high” for the size of our community. I support helping youngsters avoid trouble, rather than paying much more to have them incarcerated because they went the wrong way in life. Let’s be smart and pay up front when the cost is much more affordable and no one has ruined their life. Let’s not be penny wise and pound foolish. Let’s help our kids to make good choices in their lives. The Boys and Girls Club is a program that has a proven record of working. It’s been around for nearly 100 years and has former Presidents and many Celebrities in the ranks of its alumni.
We can find the money. It’s in our best interest to find the money. These are exactly the types of things that I do support to help create a much better place for all of us to live. This is called investing in our future.
Bill Sarto – President
Village of Carpentersville
Sep 30, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Frank F. Stoneham
What will our Village ask Dundee Township Park District for, as far as cash is concerned? Or, are we going to go it alone?
$75,000 this year or next? What if all funding stops, then what? Do you have any numbers as far as children this will help? Can any other organization that helps children help out or combine their resourses to help out?
We should consider all the options, before we open the wallets of taxpayers. The reserve fund is and should be used for our decaying infrastructure and pay off our future debts. Don’t we have to seek more bonds to continue our street, sidewalk and infrastructure projects next year?
And, we have a Public Works facilities that will cost MILLIONS.
Yours truly,
Frank “tax increases coming” Stoneham
Oct 1, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Bill Sarto
Dundee Township Park District is paying $75,000.00. The membership of the Boys & Girls Club is about 1,200 and they all come from Carpentersville. So, we do have a responsibility to keep this program up and running. It is not a baby-sitting service, it provides meaningful programs that assist young Boys & Girls in life experiences. Because the program has teachers involved,these youngsters get some much needed help with homework and other learning skills.
There are also mentors for these young Boys & Girls who help them to understand their true potential in life.
This program is good for our community. It keeps those good kids on the right side of the law.
Recently some graduates from the Boys & Girls Clubs were asked about their own experience with the program. Here is the shocking but good news: 51% of those asked said that the Boys & Girls Club “saved their life”. I do not know of any other organization that has that kind of effect on anyone. That is a bold statement. To say that a program saved your life is about as meaningful as any program can be.
Yes, we are doing other things in Carpentersville, but none of them are more important than the lives of our children. They are our future. We couldn’t make a better investment than to give some needed money to this worthwhile organization.
When a young person has gone wrong it’s very unusual to ever get them back on the right path in life. So, it’s well worth the money to keep them on that right path. A good citizen is an asset to a community. They earn money and contribute to the overall well being of where they live. A person who is involved in the wrong things, is a drain on society. They are a liability if you want to talk about this in dollars and cents.
Let’s use good sense and come up with some money for the good work done by the Boys & Girls Club.
Bill Sarto – President
Village of Carpentersville
Oct 1, 2007 at 1:38 pm
John Aurm
Bill, great information. Thanks for supporting the community and its people. While taxes are often difficult to pay and no one wants to pay more, we do anyway when we don’t take care of the things that matter.
today, education costs are higher than ever because the Federal Government has mandated programs for the local districts that they fail to fund putting the burden on the homeowners or in the level of higher education, the students or their families. With costs increaing but no funding, what will happen to our education system if we don’t fund it, or our kids if we don’t fund programs like the Boys & Girls Clubs? Can we afford to not pay taxes or find funding for the essential programs that have been here to help make America great. No wonder we are falling apart, when all we care about is money and not the people that surround us everyday or affect our lives as we come in contact with them.
Aug 13, 2008 at 10:07 am
dennis c
Now that all the pros and cons are been debated. Where does the buck stop? Do the taxpayers take another hit? Do we pass the hat at the next village meeting? Seems that even at five bucks a head with could only get perhaps $300 bucks and at that it will be the same sixty people funding this worthy operation.
I really hate to say this, but the Roeser’s have been known to deliver during each and every election! Even the local one last year, which really was to protect their work force mental state, a lot of relatives were getting nervous.
Whether or not you understand this, perhaps a visit to the following and turning to page three may wake you up to the greasy fingers changing your vote by the force of money. It is about time he uses that great wealth for the future of citizens and not scoundrels that will deliver his agenda to him instead of US!
http://www.elections.il.gov/downloads/abouttheboard/pdf/02_21_06minutes.pdf
Aug 13, 2008 at 10:20 am
dennis c
Yes, improving the community at every turn of the wallet?
http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ContribListSearches.aspx
http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ContribList.aspx?selected=Campaign+Disclosure
http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/LatestTotals.aspx
Aug 14, 2008 at 1:45 pm
At a Glance
What never fails to amaze me is the short-sightedness we all seem to have at times. We welcome the tax cuts that are more promise than reality and then attack the programs that are forced to go to us to ask for help once the funding for them has been cut because of lack of tax dollars….Its kind of a “catch 22″ senario.
Many good programs that help the local communities are left without financial support when Federal or State funds are cut. We all benefit when our community is strenghtened and people are enriched through local services. Yet, when we are asked to give back some of the money we have received in tax cuts, we fight against or ignore the very things that build us as a community.
While we fight over a few dollars to help our people, our government gives billions to its friends and contributors like the Oil companies or Haliburton. Is it fair to give 8 billion dollars to big oil when they are getting record earnings? Or to fund, with hundreds of billions of dollars, Haliburton in Iraq and around the world, when they have been found to have cheated our troops? Let’s use those funds for building OUR COUNTRY and supporting our programs. Let’s go after those that have supported this idiocy and get them out of office.
I have no problem with the Roeser’s supporting their positions with candidates that believe as they do. That is how government works – at all levels. I do think that we need public financing of elections and that may help us all get good candidates that are not just having to buy their office with financial support from special interests. It would stop things like John McCain having a top official in his campaign that is a lobbiest for the former Soviet Country of Georgia and then supporting Georgia with rhetoric that would seem to restarting the Cold War all over. Seems like too many of our candidates have conflicts of interest due to financial deals that need to be made to get elected…Or maybe they get into office to support the interest of their friends rather than the community or country as a whole. It would be easier to see that kind of thing if we had a different way of funding our elections. And the 527′s have to be eliminated…to avoid the back-door contributions that skew our system.