See how to donate to the new club
The St. Cloud community got the opportunity Friday morning to meet Alex Lindsay, the director of the city’s new Boys & Girls Club location in town, at 10th Street and Virginia Avenue.
The event was a fundraising campaign in order to help fund the goals and dreams of the youth who are served — keep reading for details on how to donate to the Faces of the Future — but he made it clear Friday that it wasn’t about him; it’s about the kids.
“I love being in St. Cloud,” he said. “I stand there between 2 and 3 p.m. at the door of the club just watching them come in. That was me. I’m home.”
At Friday’s event, a few of the club’s first members said on video what they love about being there — the games, the help with schoolwork, enrichment programs or, for one teenager, how the club in Kissimmee, the nearest one to St. Cloud before a couple months ago, “changed me,” after years of getting in fights and other trouble in school.
Lindsay delivered a heartfelt message about how the Boys Club (what it was called then) came to his side when his mother passed away at a young age. His calling now, as the city’s advocate to the club, is to pay that service forward for children who need a safe, caring and active place for growth potential.
“I’m no stranger to these clubs,” he said. “I still have a strong foundation from the profound Boy’s Club leadership and my many mentors. That moment, of seeing (leaders from the club) as the first people I saw after my mother passed, still sticks with me. They came and got me and saved me. I say that because, from that point forward, they knew what they had to do for me. That point in my life got me here. It’s amazing.”
He said club leaders helped him keep his grades up and offered leadership opportunities, which led to state and national Boys Club opportunities. He eventually went to college and worked for the Department of Juvenile Justice, all thanks to the help of a few good influences. In between, he returned to Boys & Girls Clubs to give back and complete the full circle of life. LaVell Monger, the incoming chair of the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce and a small business owner in the city, called the club in his hometown of St. Louis, Mo. a “home away from home,” and his first job out of college.
“We are reaching out to each and every individual in this room to support this mission by joining our Giving Society, to offset the costs of services we provide to our youth everyday,” he said. “We rely on generous donations to build a strong foundation for the program.”
The speakers noted that, on average, it takes five years of support to spread the guidance and support of a club to its community and to, “Create the change we’d love to see.”
Lindsay said he’s excited to be a part of that new support in St. Cloud.
“My heart skips a beat whenever I go into our club,” Lindsay said of the St. Cloud club. “When you work with kids, it’s never about you — it’s about them. It’s not a job, it’s a passion.” To join in that passion and give to the Faces of the Future, go to https://www. bgccf.org/2022-fof and choose “St. Cloud Support” as the designation.
Parents and guardians can register children at the Boys & Girls Club (101 Virginia Ave., near Cannery Park); call the club at 321805-4014 for information.