Club is a community treasure
UNITED WAY
His “ To Do” list is crammed:
Convene the next meeting of the East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club youth council.
Expand the club’s basketball program.
Make a difference in a young person’s life. The list goes on. Slowly but surely, Sasha Allen, 18, is getting through it. A volunteer at the centre and president of its youth council, Allen’s priority is to set a good example for the 750 young people the club serves every day.
“ I’m doing it because when I was growing up, I always had positive influences in my life — my dad, stepmother, uncle and aunt,” Allen said. He also counts the club’s executive director, Ron Rock, and child and youth services manager, Tony Jno Baptiste, among his role models.
Established as the Scarborough Police Youth Club in 1956, the non- profit organization later moved to its permanent home at 100 Galloway Rd. and currently has four satellite locations in the neighbourhood. It’s been a United Way agency since its inception, and received $ 400,000 this year.
It offers a range of activities including after- school and recreation programs, leadership training, two daycare centres, parenting and teen mom groups, drop- in programs, life skills and crisis intervention. The club is a treasure in a community that’s been caught in the crossfire of gang wars. Rock says the club helps young people learn to help themselves.
“ We believe that prevention is the most important factor in changing behaviour,” he said. The United Way of Greater Toronto aims to raise a record $ 94.5 million this year to fund its 200 member agencies; it’s raised $40 million so far. The campaign runs until the end of the year. How to donate: www.unitedwaytoronto. For gifts of securities, call Lisa Zaccaglino, 416- 777- 2001, ext. 325 or click on Donate online. For gifts in kind, call 416-359- 2063.