Boys & Girls Club seeks additional funds from County

Andrew Fitzpatrick, CEO of the Marshall County Boys & Girls Clubs said the organization is currently in the final year of their two-year implementation plan with Lilly Endowment and he said donations to the clubs will be matched until the end of 2024.

The state Boys & Girls Club has a plan focused on capacity-building for the organization and youth services. The Marshall County clubs have been focusing on continued high-quality programs and program improvement. Fitzpatrick said this includes a capital renovation project for the Plymouth Club’s gymnasium that was built in 1997. The purpose of the plan was designed to better serve the club’s existing youth members while expanding their reach to unserved or underserved children and teens in the community.

The local implementation goals are performance-based metrics across the three funding categories from the Lilly Endowment Inc. funding.

Fitzpatrick said the local club increased the number of youth members served by 40% and the average daily attendance by 22% over two years (2023 & 2024). He said they plan to continue growth in these categories in 2024.

Another goal was to increase overall revenue by a minimum of 5% on an annual basis to ensure sustainability and growth. Locally they have surpassed the 5% goal in 2023 and continue to grow so they can support the capacity to serve youth in Marshall County.

The Marshall County Boys & Girls Club has excelled insuring 100% of current and new Boys & Girls Club staff receive quality training and professional development to implement the world-class programs and create positive experiences.

The final goal was to ensure 100% of Clubs create a two-year strategic and sustainable growth plan and Fitzpatrick said, “We have this in place for Marshall County.”

The Plymouth Boys & Girls Club is planning to replace the gym floor with a few other renovations in the gym. Estimated project cost is $150,000 and Fitzpatrick said, “We also need continued support from our local communities to help finalize our projects with matching fund opportunities.”

The Boys & Girls Club CEO said, “We are also excited to share that we are currently planning the Grand Opening of our new Teen Center in Bremen Schools.”

Andrew Fitzpatrick said they started in 2022 asking Marshall County to consider increasing our $12,000 Annual Donation from the County. We emphasized that in 2023 and 2024 we had the opportunity to double your contribution through the matching funds categories from our Lilly Endowment Funding. We are hopeful that the Marshall County Commissioners did consider an increase in the annual funding amount for 2024.”

Marshall County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer said the 2024 budget only has $6,000 for the Plymouth Boys & Girls Club and $6,000 for the Bremen Club. He wasn’t sure any additional funds could be added to this year’s donation.