New Boys & Girls Club full of amenities.

“The Positive Place for Kids” in the East Valley is about to become a whole lot more positive.

In September, the Boys & Girls Club Compadre Branch in downtown Chandler opens the doors to its brand new home where more than 2,000 kids a year will feel safe to learn, grow and have fun. In describing the condition of its site since 1983, Branch Executive Mindy Elias says, “Oh goodness, it’s old and not fitting the kids we’re serving now.”

Thanks to Mayor Boyd Dunn keeping a promise, city council and the voters supporting it, the new 33,000-square-foot facility has been good news from the start. Everything worth saving from the old building was donated to other local nonprofits. The new structure was completed for a cost of $7 million, about $1.4 million less than the approved bonds.

Beyond saving greenbacks, the new Boys & Girls Club is a Leed-certified building with the highest environmental standards. The kids really learned about the environment throughout the construction, even doing walk-throughs every Thursday with the Chase Building Team. There’s been no vandalism, nothing stolen, total protection from the community, making it one of the easiest builds Chandler has ever seen.

Inside the new facility, everything will be new. Thanks to Intel generosity, this site will host the world’s largest Intel Computer Clubhouse with 45 computers for the kids. The Wellcare Foundation is providing a doctor’s office and a dentist’s office where kids will receive free care.

It’s got a soundproof music studio, a video production studio, a gymnasium, meeting rooms which other nonprofits will share, and a full-service kitchen where in addition to feeding  young hearts and minds, the Boys & Girls Club will provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner for those who otherwise might go hungry.

Outside, the old structure was demolished to make way for the new parking lot. Outside is where the public can help, too. The club is looking for donors at www.clubzona.org who want their name on one of 1,800 bricks paving the front entrance. This money goes directly into programs for the kids paying for everything from food in their tummies to crayons in their little hands.

That Chandler has so championed this cause is pleasantly mind-boggling to Mindy Elias.  At age 5, she began in the Boys & Girls Club in Tempe, got her first job there, and has been the Queen Caretaker of the Compadre Branch kids for 10 years. “I have the best job in the world, and to be so supported by the city and the voters it’s just been amazing.”

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley’s annual membership fee is only $20. No one is ever turned away if they are unable to pay the fee, making it the ultimate No Child Left Behind program.

“The Positive Place for Kids” in the East Valley is about to become a whole lot more positive.

In September, the Boys & Girls Club Compadre Branch in downtown Chandler opens the doors to its brand new home where more than 2,000 kids a year will feel safe to learn, grow and have fun. In describing the condition of its site since 1983, Branch Executive Mindy Elias says, “Oh goodness, it’s old and not fitting the kids we’re serving now.”

Thanks to Mayor Boyd Dunn keeping a promise, city council and the voters supporting it, the new 33,000-square-foot facility has been good news from the start. Everything worth saving from the old building was donated to other local nonprofits. The new structure was completed for a cost of $7 million, about $1.4 million less than the approved bonds.

Beyond saving greenbacks, the new Boys & Girls Club is a Leed-certified building with the highest environmental standards. The kids really learned about the environment throughout the construction, even doing walk-throughs every Thursday with the Chase Building Team. There’s been no vandalism, nothing stolen, total protection from the community, making it one of the easiest builds Chandler has ever seen.

Inside the new facility, everything will be new. Thanks to Intel generosity, this site will host the world’s largest Intel Computer Clubhouse with 45 computers for the kids. The Wellcare Foundation is providing a doctor’s office and a dentist’s office where kids will receive free care.

It’s got a soundproof music studio, a video production studio, a gymnasium, meeting rooms which other nonprofits will share, and a full-service kitchen where in addition to feeding  young hearts and minds, the Boys & Girls Club will provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner for those who otherwise might go hungry.

Outside, the old structure was demolished to make way for the new parking lot. Outside is where the public can help, too. The club is looking for donors at www.clubzona.org who want their name on one of 1,800 bricks paving the front entrance. This money goes directly into programs for the kids paying for everything from food in their tummies to crayons in their little hands.

That Chandler has so championed this cause is pleasantly mind-boggling to Mindy Elias.  At age 5, she began in the Boys & Girls Club in Tempe, got her first job there, and has been the Queen Caretaker of the Compadre Branch kids for 10 years. “I have the best job in the world, and to be so supported by the city and the voters it’s just been amazing.”

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley’s annual membership fee is only $20. No one is ever turned away if they are unable to pay the fee, making it the ultimate No Child Left Behind program.

Written by Thomas Baldrick

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