YMCA drops plan to pick up B&GC’s baseball program
The naming of the CEO of the Hot Springs Family YMCA as a respondent in a lawsuit filed earlier this week to keep the Boys & Girls Club of Hot Springs open has ended the club’s spring baseball program for 2018, the attorney for the club’s board of directors said in a letter to The Sentinel-Record.
Gary Lax said the YMCA balked at an agreement to run the baseball program after board member Willie McCoy filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent the board from closing the club or negotiating with the YMCA.
The board decided to close the club, effective Friday, for lack of operating revenue, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America rescinded the club’s charter Thursday. In addition to the board, YMCA CEO Pete Davin was also named as a respondent in the lawsuit.
“On the day the lawsuit was filed, the board of the Boys and Girls Club unanimously endorsed a lease arrangement with the YMCA to run the 2018 baseball program and provide other services which hopefully would have become a permanent solution,” Lax said, noting that McCoy had left the meeting prior to the vote. “However, after Peter Davin, the chief executive officer of the YMCA, was named a party to the suit filed by Mr. McCoy, the YMCA backed off.
“Let me be the first to say the YMCA and its board have been nothing but gracious and professional in its dealings with the Hot Springs Boys and Girls Club board. They were trying to help and the thanks they got was being sued.”
Davin said more than 50 children had signed up to play baseball. Registration fees will be refunded for those who registered through the YMCA, Davin said.
He said the Benton Parks and Recreation Department is accepting applications for full teams, and the Lake Hamilton Optimist Club is also accepting players.
Davin said children registered in the Boys & Girls Club’s
after-school program can enroll in the YMCA’s Out of School Time program for $24 a week, or half the normal rate. Financial aid is also available. According to the brief filed in support of the injunction request, tuition for the Boys & Girls Club’s after-school program is $60 per nine weeks.
“Money that’s been donated by the Boys & Girls Club will go directly to families who need additional help,” Davin said. “Those dollars will be applied on top of the discount we’re already offering. Financial aid/scholarship forms will be turned around very quickly if proof of income level is provided.
“It normally takes seven to 10 days, but we’ll do it in a day to see if those families qualify for a more reduced rate. The YMCA will not turn any family away for inability to pay.”
He said transportation will be provided for Gardner, Oaklawn and Park magnet school students enrolled in the YMCA’s program.
“(The Boys & Girls Club) has told me they have 58 registered in their program but only a handful have registered or applied for financial assistance with us,” Davin said.
Davin said the YMCA offers a free off-site program for Langston Magnet School students.
“If there are kids who go to Langston that have been going to the Boys & Girls Club they currently have space at Langston to take care of those kids,” he said. “The program is free, but the kids need to be signed up through the school. The administration at Langston selects the kids who participate in that program.”
Lax said the Boys & Girls Club’s fate is uncertain. Financial reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service show annual operating deficits from 2014 to 2016 exceeded $400,000 and depleted the more than $500,000 reserve reported in 2013 to $84,468 at the end of 2016.
The court filing said there are insufficient funds to meet the club’s $15,000 in monthly operating expenses.
“Unfortunately, for reasons beyond the control of the board, the Hot Springs Boys and Girls Club cannot continue operations without a sufficient revenue stream to maintain its viability,” Lax said. “In the coming weeks, the truth will be told in court. Until then, the Boys and Girls Club board will continue to seek a positive solution.”