As the cold air shakes itself off finally, it's the sign that a season of change is upon us yet again, and the Spring of 2022 certainly has a feeling that's been absent, if not touch and go, over the last couple of years as we've all bobbed and weaved our way through a pandemic that none of us ever imagined we'd see in our lifetimes. We say it though and with it, we saw the best in all of us and some of us found some areas that we could work on to improve ourselves. We have also seen the organizations in out community do remarkable things to survive and thrive in the times, and at 5 years old, some organizations could have really been in a situation. In Muskegon however, even a fairly new organization in town managed to thrive, grow and find a new home. Time for a gala? Yep!
The impact that the Boys and Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore has had in the 5 years it's been working in the community has been staggering. The earliest days of the Club in the basement of a school and only a handful of kids. In only a couple of months that initial group of kids grew 10x and the Boys and Girls Club had served 7,000 meals to kids and the operating hours had been opened till 7:30p. In the 5 years since those humble beginnings, a new and permanent home has been found for the club. Situated right on the shore of Muskegon Lake. It's an amazing repurposing of a building with not only the Boys and Girls Club in mind, but the entire community. It's still a canvass being painted on as time goes on as far as a physical structure goes, but what's house within and what's happening within is just beginning to be seen as 5 years on the grand scheme of things is only the blink of an eye.
With that, it's time to party. The Great Futures Gala is happening at the home of Commissioner Bob Scolnik as it has since year one. It's a grand affair out behind the home of one of the founders of the Club coming to Muskegon. Bob still sits on the Board of Directors for the organization and his donation of the use of his yard is a wonderful contribution. There's a GIANT tent in place and it's an electric atmosphere. Music, dancing, incredible food for Harris Hospitality, auction items both live and silent and an added attraction this year will be Betten Baker Chevrolet on hand as a sponsor and showing off some of the hottest 2022 cars there are. It's an evening of elegance and purpose with the help all coming back to continue to help drive the work being done to help shape the lives of these future leaders being served by the Boys and Girls Club now.
It's also a chance to say thankyou and farewell to Dakota Crow. Dakota was brought in on Day 0 to get this program up and running in Muskegon. He's become remarkably entrenched in this community for not only his commitment to making this club getting off the ground a success, but to bringing his energy, passion and purpose to all he's involved with. His time here has been focused on not only the good of the Club, let's face it, that's "the job", but he brought much wisdom with that job understanding that while there was what he was hired for and how using that as a tool to elevate those around him as well as the community as a whole would be much more effective than just making a club work. He brought wisdom and leadership well past his years. The time has come to get back a little closer to family however, so with thankfulness, we say "see ya soon"
Monica Turnbull is the Development Director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore and we grabbed a couple minutes to talk about the club, the party and our soon to be gone friend Dakota. Take a listen.
If the party is what you are in the most need of, this is the one to hit! Splendor and elegance with such a great mission! There are still tickets for the grand affair and you can trip the light fantastic all night. If the "scene" isn't your thing, like we talked in the video, you can help in any number of ways large or small. It's an investment in the lives of the future of all of these young people. Large or small it's the collective contributions of all of us that is the real investment here. This is the next generation coming up behind us and to let them know the value we place in them is first. CLICK HERE for tickets to the Great Futures Gala and if you'd like to visit the Boys and Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore online, please click here.
