Boys And Girls Club Kicking Off In Kailua
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Kailua Boys and Girls Club director Duane Sampson (at 2
o’clock) gathers a circle of young friends who are looking
forward to the club’s official opening May 22: (clockwise
from Samson) Whitney Teramoto, Lianne Teramoto, Leisa
Lovett, CJ Williams, Michael McMonigle and Kyle Scotka.
Photo by Nathalie Walker, staff photographer.
The Windward side of Oahu is finally getting a Boys and Girls Club of its own, and the doors officially swing open on May 22 on the Kailua Intermediate School campus.
Even though the clubhouse is still being set up, students have already been coming in to sign up.“We’ve already enrolled about 35 kids just by them dropping by or telling their friends about it,” said club director Duane Samson.
Samson, a veteran police sergeant, said that youths show up daily to help him clean and arrange things in the new hangout.
“They’ve been telling us what they want in there,” he said, “and we listen because, after all, it is their clubhouse.”
The Kailua site will be the sixth Boys and Girls Club on Oahu, and Samson intends to offer all children ages 7 to 17 programs and activities that are unique to the Windward side.
“We’ll be providing a computer lab, learning center and recreational sports, and we’re also working on a music program with a sound room, and ocean activities, since Kailua is a water town.”
Duane Samson helps Kyle
Scotka (left) and Whitney
Teramoto sand a canoe in
the new clubhouse at
Kailua Intermediate School.
Photo by Nathalie Walker,
staff photographer.
In addition, Samson is putting together a mentoring program with volunteers from HPD, the fire department and other community agencies.
A T-shirt design contest is currently under way to promote a benefit half-marathon to be held Oct. 1. Entries are due May 15 for designs that must include a flying long-tailed tropical bird and the Koolau Mountains. For applications, visit the school’s Windward Clubhouse from 2 to 5 p.m. weekdays. The program is housed for now in the old metal shop. (Go past the basketball courts and look for the big banner.)
“In my line of work, I’ve seen so many kids who really need a positive place to go after school,“added Samson, a former Kailua Neighborhood Board member. “Boys and Girls Club enrollment just costs $1 a year.”
Business leaders in the community are now trying to raise $10 million to help fund a $4 million renovation of the clubhouse area as well as a $6 million endowment to support it in the future.
“This will be a good place for kids to come and get a good foundation of values,” said Samson, who was in a similar outreach program when he was growing up in Kailua, and it really helped. “Our mission is inspiring young people to become responsible citizens.”
The club also will offer a six-week summer day camp for children 7 to 12 years old.Volunteers are welcome to step forward.
For more information, call Samson at 271-2168 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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