The Boys and Girls Club of Loudoun is in danger of closing if donations to the program don’t increase, wrote board member Mark Madigan in an e-mailed plea to his contacts last week.

“We are really at a crossroads,” he wrote, “The economic times have hit us hard.”

The Boys and Girls Club of Loudoun started up in Sept. 2007 at three Loudoun middle schools, thanks in part to funding from the Boys and Girls Club of America, a generous “gang prevention” grant secured by Congressman Frank Wolf (R-District 10) with help from the Loudoun Youth Initiative and donations from corporate and private donors.

The program provides a safe haven for students at Sterling, J. Lupton Simpson and Stone Hill middle schools where they can hang out, get homework help and play games after school until 8 p.m. each weekday. Organizers also run workshops on drug awareness, gang prevention and overall character-building.

In a recent interview, Madigan told me that the grant money has now dried up and that corporate and private donations are down dramatically, due to the slowing economy. Barring any uptick in the finances, the program might not make it to the end of this school year.

Last year, the program cost $20 for a full year to all middle school students at participating schools. This year, because of the donation decline, the Boys and Girls Club of Loudoun charges parents and guardians $25 a week per child - shutting out the kids whose families can’t afford the program, and probably need it the most.

The after-school program last year saw about 50 kids at each site every day. This school year, the number of participants has shrunk to 20 to 30 kids at each of the three centers —most likely due to the imposed $25-a-week fee, Madigan said.

One dedicated B&GC school site director has taken the matter into her own hands. This director is personally asking friends and approaching Loudoun businesses directly for donations to pay the fees for two children from a homeless, single-parent family.

“They have no place else to go, and no funds to cover the cost of the program they so desperately need,” he said.

There are no overhead costs with the Boys and Girls Club of Loudoun — donations directly support the program.

“For each $25 we get, that’s one less kid off the street for a week,” he added.

The club also helps promote a place where kids can learn about each other’s differences in a non-academic environment.

Parent Claire Crook said the program has provided inclusion and camaraderie for her eighth-grader, Sophia, who is developmentally disabled.

“It would be really tough on my family if we didn’t have this program,” Crook said. “Kim Augustine, the director at Simpson, really gets the kids and what they’re thinking. Because of the Boys and Girls Club, my daughter feels like she’s really a part of the school and the group.”

If you’d like to donate to the Boys and Girls Club of Loudoun and keep this program running in our county, click here.