Margaret Montaño, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club del Norte, gets visibly emotional as she describes talking to parents and students on the last day of school.
“It was very, very hard to tell them they wouldn’t have a place to go to for summer,” Montaño said.
Sitting in the Club’s empty center at Chimayó Elementary, Montaño said the Club, which serves Chimayó and Abiquiú, would not be offering any summer activities for its 180 members.
“It’s a very tough situation for everyone all around, but we are staying positive and I’m determined to see that we have programs to offer these kids next summer,” Montaño said.
In the past, the Club has offered programs and activities, including arts and crafts, reading and tutoring, and day trips, for children ages 5 to 12. This year, the Club does not have enough funding to offer any programs, Montaño said.
“It was a combination of factors,” Montaño, “It’s pretty tough for all nonprofits right now.”
Montaño, who replaced Doug Clark in February, cited the loss of local, state and federal grant money as one of the major reasons behind the lack of summer programs.
“The money used to run the Club is really cobbled together from many different sources,” Montaño said. “Between grants, support from businesses, donations from individuals and fund-raisers, we do it all.”
According to records provided by Montaño, the Club’s budget is thinner by $38,000 from federal stimulus money that dried up as of last year and $15,000 from the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, which decided to donate that money directly to schools instead of the Club. The Club also lost a federal grant for $12,000 and is not receiving $10,000 from United Way which it received in 2010.
“It’s also been tougher to get grants in the last few years,” Montaño said. “There is less money, and more organizations are trying to get at them, so it is very competitive.”
Running the summer programs at the Club’s two sites costs roughly $10,000 a week, according to Montaño. During the summer of 2008, the Club ran a six-week program and reduced it to five weeks in 2009, Montaño said.
She said the Club dipped into reserve funds for $40,000 to hold a four-week summer program last year.
“But now there’s no reserves left,” Montaño said. “We didn’t have much of a choice.”
The Club also relies heavily on donations and fund-raising, Montaño said. Records show the Club raised $1,300 in donations in 2010, plus $35,000 from two fund-raisers.
“One of my main goals will be to revitalize our fund-raising efforts,” Montaño said. “We want to hold more (fund-raisers) and come up with new and exciting ideas that will involve more people in the community to come and participate.”
Despite the cuts to summer programming, Montaño said the Club will have enough money to operate during the 2011-12 school year, including offering services at a new $90,357 facility at Abiquiú Elementary, jointly funded by the Española School District and Rio Arriba County. The new building is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.
Montaño said community members interested in helping can call her at 351-1515.