Eliza Behrendsen, Chief Professional Officer of The Boys & Girls Club of El Camino Real provided the Natchitoches Rotary Club with an impressive overview of services provided to more than 600 local youth ages 6 to 18. Last year the club served over 14,000 meals and 12,000 snacks as well as delivering youth lessons on leadership, homework help, guidance, and direction all in a safe environment where the children can have fun. This is all made possible with 2 paid staff, 6 NSU student workers, 5 LSMSA work service students, 2 NSU interns, 11 volunteer Board members supported by over 100 local volunteers on a annual budget of $100,000 which comes from local donations. Behrendsen spoke with pride on what has been accomplished with their bare-bones budget, but noted that more can be done with additional volunteers and funding. Following questions and a discussion of program goals and future plans, she invited everyone to come by the MLK Center or visit online at http://www.bgcnla.org/.
Rotarian Dr. Larry Burke, and the Rotarian with the program Kendal Perkins.