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RiverKings and Community Foundation to Help Bring Boys & Girls Clubs to DeSoto

March 13, 2003 - SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, Miss.—As DeSoto County growth booms and once-rural life becomes ever more urban, many young people are left to find after-school activities and friendships on city streets.

The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi and the RiverKings are teaming up to bring Boys & Girls Clubs of America to DeSoto County in an effort to cut down on truancy, teenage crime, drug use and teen pregnancy rates.

The Community Foundation is selling tickets to the RiverKings' Friday, March 14 game against the New Mexico Scorpions and will have an informational booth on the concourse. Tickets purchased through the Community Foundation prior to game time are available for $10, with $5 from each ticket sold going to the Boys & Girls Club effort. For tickets call 662-449-5002.

Boys and Girls Clubs' mission is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.

Boys and Girls Clubs provide a youth facility, an actual neighborhood-based building designed solely for youth programs and activities; is open every day, including after school and on weekends; has full-time, trained youth development professionals who provide positive role models, mentors and support; and is affordable, with yearly dues averaging between $5 and $10.

"One of the important benefits for kids is a club's stability," Community Foundation Director of Development William Bailey said. "Even if everything in the child's life is going wrong, if their parents are fighting and they're having a hard time at school, the Club will be there for them."

Boys and Girls Clubs offers more than 25 national programs available in the areas of education, the environment, the arts, health, careers, alcohol/drug and prevention, leadership development and athletics. The Clubs offer positive and fun ways for children to enhance their natural talents instead of finding negative alternatives for their free time.

"DeSoto County needs Boys & Girls Clubs because we are growing so rapidly," Bailey said. "There are a lot of benefits to the growth we are seeing. But as our county becomes more urban, we want to prevent some of the youth problems that can happen in urban areas. We want to use Boys & Girls Clubs to help us protect our children from such problems as drugs and teen pregnancy."

Several Boys and Girls Club Alumni include Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Martin Sheen, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Alex Rodriguez and Michael Jordan.

Bailey said the goal is to start a club in each of the four major cities in DeSoto County. Starting the clubs begins with finding affordable locations and raising $25,000 for each club. In 2002 the Maddox Foundation gave potential supporters a large incentive by agreeing to match every local dollar raised for Boys & Girls Clubs.

Once the initial $25,000 of local money is raised to start the first club in DeSoto County, the Mississippi Attorney General's office will also contribute $25,000. Boys & Girls Clubs of America will also give between $25,000 and $40,000 per club.

The Hernando Optimist Club has already donated $5,000 toward the effort. The RiverKings are helping, too: $5 of every ticket purchased prior to game time through the Community Foundation for the Friday, March 14 game against the New Mexico Scorpions will go toward starting Boys and Girls Clubs in DeSoto County.

Boys and Girls Clubs consider the money invested to be "an ounce of prevention" that goes a long way: average cost spent per child is about $200 a year, but keeping a young adult in jail costs taxpayers between $25,000 and $75,000 a year.

An example of the program's effectiveness is a statistic on youth crime in Picayune, Miss. that stated youth crime dropped 42 percent after the establishment of a Boys and Girls Club there.

"The Community Foundation helps donors put their money to work long-term for the benefit of non-profit organizations," Bailey said. "Another one of our missions is to facilitate charitable acts and works in the community. Helping bring Boys and Girls Clubs here is one great way for us to serve the community."

The RiverKings game to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs will be Friday, March 14 at the DeSoto Civic Center arena, located just 15 minutes south of downtown Memphis. The RiverKings will battle the New Mexico Scorpions. Face-off is set for 7:05 p.m. For tickets call (662)-342-1755 or go online to www.RiverKings.com and use the Ticketmaster link.

· Who: The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi

· What: Selling tickets to the RiverKings' game against the New Mexico Scorpions to raise money for the creation of four Boys and Girls Clubs in DeSoto County.

· When: Friday, March 14 at 7:05 p.m.

· Where: DeSoto Civic Center arena, just 15 minutes south of downtown Memphis.

· How to get more information or tickets: Call the Community Foundation at 662-449-5002.

UPCOMING EVENTS

· This coming Friday when the ‘Kings host the New Mexico Scorpions at 7:05 p.m. at the DeSoto Civic Center, all upper bowl tickets are just $5. Also water bottles courtesy of the DeSoto Athletic Club will be given to the first 1,500 fans, plus skate on the DCC ice after the game.

· Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-South, Inc. will sell commemorative pucks this Friday and Saturday night at the RiverKings' 7:05 p.m. games. Average cost of granting a wish is $5,000. The organization made $2,000 this past weekend, thanks to RiverKings fans who by their purchase will help grant the wish of a child with a life-threatening illness to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.

· Saturday join the ‘Kings for a President's Cup Finals rematch as they host the Austin Ice Bats at 7:05 p.m. The RiverKings will wear special commemorative jerseys from Bumpus Harley Davidson of Memphis. The jerseys will be auctioned off after the game with the profits benefiting Cystic Fibrosis and the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi. Also Don Parsons will be honored by Just Hockey Magazine as the Minor League Player of the Year during the first intermission.

· Sunday is the final game of the regular season as the ‘Kings host the Indianapolis Ice at 6:05 p.m. on Fan Appreciation night. Join the ‘Kings after the game for a post-game skate with the whole team, plus great giveaways. The American Diabetes Association will be the RiverKings' featured non-profit of the night. To support the American Diabetes Association in their efforts to prevent and find a cure for diabetes, and to improve the lives of people affected by diabetes, by purchasing tickets to a RiverKings game, call the RiverKings office at 662-413-4282 and ask for Melissa.



SPHL Stories from March 13, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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