front & center
Cathy Andrasik of Russellville
In her 22 years with the River Valley Boys & Girls Club, Cathy Andrasik has seen a lot of kids come through the club’s doors. Every day after school, kids from across Russellville and Dardenelle head from their classrooms to the club centers in both towns.
As executive director, Andrasik gets to help maintain the funding for the centers and work with the staff on new programs for the kids. It’s a good role for someone who grew up wanting to teach.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Andrasik moved with her husband and daughter to Russellville when her husband’s job relocated to the area. In 1990, she started work at the Boys & Girls Club as athletic director. Andrasik had grown up as an
When people ask me what the Boys & Girls Club does, the first thing I ask is ‘How much time do you have?’” CATHY ANDRASICK Executive director of the Arkansas River Valley Boys & Girls Club on the many services performed by this organiztion
athlete, playing any sport she could, and she knows how much children can benefit from athletics.
“Not only are they developing coordination and a desire to stay active, they are also learning how to function within a group, teamwork and tolerance,” Andrasik said. “The benefits range from physically healthier children to children with high self-esteem.”
Over the next few years, Andrasik got more and more involved in the club.
“I performed functions for just about every component of the Boys & Girls Club programming,” she said.
In 1999, she was offered the position
of executive director.
“The past 14 years … have been quite challenging and very rewarding,” Andrasik said. “[I might be] planning for an upcoming fundraiser, preparing a new grant or proposal for needed funding … [helping with] minor maintenance repairs, helping with a family or member issue, budgeting and financials and the list goes on.”
As with many nonprofit organizations, Andrasik said that most of the staff at the club have to wear multiple hats to keep things running smoothly. The hardest part of her job? Grant writing.
“You can be so passionate about all that the club stands for and pour the need into so many grants and … so many worthwhile nonprofit organizations are submitting for the same support,” Andrasik said. “It becomes very discouraging when you are rejected.”
But the kids make up for it. At its peak, the Russellville club has around 200 students participating in its after-school program. In Dardanelle, it’s about half that.
“It is a place that provides fun with a purpose,” Andrasik said. “We have heard firsthand that [kids would otherwise] be home with an older sibling or other relative, bored, not socializing.”
Most importantly, Andrasik said, the clubs show kids in the River Valley area that someone cares about them and is cheering for them to succeed.
“When people ask me what the Boys & Girls Club does, the first thing I ask is ‘ How much time do you have?’” she said. “The club provides activities that allow children to develop social skills, tolerance and learn group dynamics … at times we are mom and dad substitutes, doctoring skinned knees or consoling them over a lost pet.”
While the most rewarding part of her job is getting to see the kids grow and thrive, Andrasik also loves seeing the support the communities of Russellville and Dardanelle give to the centers.
“It is for certain that we would not be where we are today as an organization without the monetary and in-kind support from individuals and businesses in our communities,” she said.
Though her days can stretch long beyond 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (especially just before the organization’s annual Mistletoe Market fundraiser), Andrasik finds time to relax. She and her husband, Marty, travel around the state as often as they can to fish. They like to hit Blue Mountain Lake and Lake Dardanelle. They once traveled with their daughter to Colorado to fly-fish. If it’s not the right weather for fishing, she can be found grilling out with friends or playing cards. And she’ll take any excuse to be outdoors — either camping, hiking, golfing or working in the yard.
“I find it very therapeutic,” Andrasik said.
Soon, she and Marty will be headed to Chicago to be with their daughter, Jeni, who is expecting their first grandchild. Andrasik couldn’t be more excited.