Ville Platte Boys & Girls Club will begin summer program at maximum capacity

The opening of the Ville Platte Boys and Girls Club is just days away, and its summer program is shaping up to be a huge success.
Registration for the summer program, which will last from June 1 to July 29, was held last week, and by the end of it, Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine was realizing that “all of the hard work that has gone into this has been worth it.”
Vidrine said, “It took a colossal effort on behalf of the city council, city workers and the community to make the Boys and Girls Club happen, and to see how successful our summer program is turning out to be is a dream come true.”
The summer program that only 100 kids from across the parish will be lucky enough to partake in, reached its capacity by the last day of registration.
“By the end of registration, we were having to turn kids away because we had reached our capacity,” said Vidrine. “People were offering to pay double the $125 fee so that there kids could take part in the summer program, but we had to say no, because we want to make sure that we are able to do our job adequately this summer for these kids. We have so many events planned that we had to set the cut off at 100.”
While the cut off was set at 100, this interactive summer program is reaching children all across Evangeline Parish. Students that have registered for the program have ages that range from eight to 15 and come from the schools Ville Platte High, Sacred Heart School, Ville Platte Elementary, James Stephens Montessori, Chataignier Elementary, and Vidrine Elementary. And, according to the mayor, the male to female ratio is about even.
The mayor and the other individuals involved in making this happen, such as Boys and Girls Club Director Dianna Freeman, have worked hard to ensure that the children will have a summer jam packed with fun, and more importantly, educational activities.
“The kids that have signed up are going to spend the summer taking part in a program that is going to allow them to do things that many of them would have never gotten to do otherwise,” said Vidrine. “We have field trips planned, and activities on and off site for the kids to enjoy and learn from.”
Field trips will include traveling to Chicota Youth Camp to meet New Orleans Pelicans and New Orleans Saints players, to Louisiana State University to tour the campus, football stadium, and basketball arena, to the U.S.S. Kidd, and to the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge.
The lucky first 100 kids that registered won’t be the only ones to get the opportunity to enjoy the Boys and Girls Club though.
The mayor said, “The summer program will end on July 29, and then in September we will re-open for after school from 3:30 to 5:30. We will hold another registration, and if the kids that were registered for the summer program want to take part in this as well they will have to register again.”
For the after school program, the Boys and Girls Club will be able to accommodate more children than they were able to for the summer program. The membership fee will be $10 and the membership will last from September to May.
During the school year the Boys and Girls Club will be dedicated to providing tutoring services, a place to do homework, and fun activities.
As the Boys and Girls Club continues to grow, the mayor says “we have to keep our eye on the prize and let the Lord guide this initiative in a way that honors him.”
Vidrine said, “It was inspiring to see that after the kids were signed up they were telling been completely worth their parents ‘I want to start now.’ Seeing their smiles is what has made all of the hard work worth it for me and the many others that have made it their mission to see this finally happen for our city and parish.”