Premier hears urgings to save youth club

The territory’s opposition MLAs want the Yukon government to save the Boys and Girls Club of Whitehorse,

The territory’s opposition MLAs want the Yukon government to save the Boys and Girls Club of Whitehorse, scheduled to shut its doors this Monday because it’s out of cash.

Prior to yesterday’s question period, Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell tabled a motion urging the government to provide interim funding to the club, and NDP MLA Todd Hardy pressed the issue during debate.

“It’s really a no-brainer. If the services the Boys and Girls Club provide are valued, then the government will sit down with the executive director and do it?” Hardy implored.

Premier Dennis Fentie said these discussions are happening, but did not get into specifics, and offered only broad support for youth-oriented non-governmental organizations.

“We advanced them money under their existing allocations and the Executive Council (officials) are working with the Boys and Girls Club in resolving their issues in the immediate future,” Fentie told the Star this morning.

According to Dave Blottner, the club’s executive director, it costs $231,000 to operate the club annually and public funding – from the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon government – is not enough.

“We put an emergency request in (to the Yukon government) because obviously we don’t want to close,” Blottner said. “If something comes through, we’re more than happy to try and stay open.”

This year the club, which at its downtown location provides a safe place for youth ages 12 to 18 to hang out after school, received $104,500 from the Yukon government and $30,000 from the city. Sources such as Yukon Lotteries help make up the shortfall, Blottner added.

While the club received $59,000 in arts-related funding to hire a circus to perform in September, Blottner said that money was tied to the event and could not be used for operations costs.

“That was project-based funding ... the deal with project- based grants, is (every year) it has to be new and innovative in order to receive grant money,” Blottner explained.

The event generated some revenue, but it was not sufficient to keep the club’s doors open.

In fact, the club has already pared its services down to three days a week at its downtown location, and Blottner said if it had to operate on just $140,000, that would be cut further.

In a move to help stave off financial woes, the Yukon government also advanced the club’s January 2010 funding instalment in November, but it won’t keep the club afloat, said Blottner.

On top of the Boys and Girls Club’s emergency request, the city’s three non-profit groups that provide “youth programming”, including the club, Youth of Today Society and Bringing Youth Towards Equality, are asking that their annual grants from the government be doubled.

Currently, all receive an equal portion of $330,000 from the government. If their request is granted, that sum would rise to $660,000.