SEQUIM — The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, which has units in Sequim and Port Angeles, is about $20,000 short of its $80,000 Campaign for Kids goal but is accepting donations until Wednesday.
Campaign organizers met the goal in 2010 but not in 2009.
The club’s second phone-a-thon July 30 brought in about $10,000.
“It’s one of the many, but it’s one of the top three” fundraisers, said Jerry Sinn, club board president.
The club’s annual dinner is the largest fundraiser, with the Campaign for Kids second and an annual golf tournament the third largest.
Sinn explained the club, because it is a United Way of Clallam County member, could not solicit cash donations past Wednesday, to keep from conflicting with the United Way fundraising campaign.
“The money goes to our operating budget to manage both Port Angeles and Sequim clubs,” Sinn said.
Annual budget
The Sequim Club has about 650 members, and the Port Angeles club has about 130.
With an annual budget of $950,000, Sinn said, “we’re basically funded out of the community,” with some nongovernmental grant money.
Sinn said the club’s enrollment increases in hard economic times like the present one.
“People are looking for cost-effective alternatives” to day care, he said, during the school year and in a safe environment.
A shortfall will not affect core service, said Mary Budke, the club’s executive director, but a review of options could lead to limits in field trips and transportation.
More grant writing and public appeals are likely, Budke said, but curtailing programs must be avoided.
Memberships are $30 a year.
Sinn opposes raising membership fees to offset shortfalls because the club’s mission is not to turn away newcomers.
The clubs collect donations of school supplies for students.
To donate, contact the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St., at 360-683-8095.
