Temporary closure due to lack of funds; club will re-open if it can secure more funding

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

Due to a funding shortfall, the board of directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Harney County decided to temporarily close the club effective Monday, Jan. 26. While the club is closed, the board will continue to search for a stable source of funding.

The board is currently planning on re-opening the club on April 1, which is contingent on securing adequate funding.

The Boys & Girls Club will be hosting the Diamonds in a Glass dinner and auction on Saturday, April 11, as this event continues to be the No. 1 source of revenue for the facility. Planning also continues for the charity golf tournament to be held in July.

Executive Director Randy Fulton said the community’s financial support for the club hasn’t diminished, with the annual Raise A Kid campaign generating  more than $18,000 this year. The problem, Fulton said, is related primarily to the failure to land any new grants. “We are currently identifying and applying for various grants, but any revenue from these efforts won’t be realized before April,” Fulton said.

The board and staff have made numerous spending cuts since August 2008, but the funding has run out at the present time. “We don’t have a spending problem,” we have a revenue problem,” Fulton said.

A number of local families, businesses and agencies, as well as the rest of the country, are struggling during the current economic crunch. “Unfortunately our temporary closure will have a very direct and negative impact on the entire community, particularly the kids,” Fulton said.