To the community,

On Oct. 20, 2016 the Boys & Girls Club held a Lights on Afterschool event for all members and families. The Lights on Afterschool event is a BGCA initiative throughout the country that showcases how important it is to have their doors open for kids.

So far this year, the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe has had over 740 members walk through their doors. However, despite being a vital community resource, if the club does not find a new home when Al Tahoe Elementary reopens, then the lights could go off forever.

As part of the event, club members were invited to design their dream club. Included in some of the designs were a spa and hot tub room, a ninja room, food courts, a cookie parlor, slides instead of stairs and a pet room. But more serious ideas were a domed library on the roof, a science room, bathrooms for specific age groups and space for recreation.

“This was a fun activity to get the kids engaged in our search for our new home,” explained development coordinator Kili Ongoy. “But it is clearly important to our members the club has both educational and recreational elements.”

Kili spent time talking to parents and visitors about the importance of Measure P in the club’s search for a new home.

If Measure P passes, the new rec center will be part of the solution in finding a new home for the Boys & Girls Club, however, in addition to using space in the rec center, we will also need a building of our own to house our educational activities, teen center, games room and other activities that elevate our members’ time with us.

The club is working with local officials at the city and county level to locate suitable buildings or land that could accommodate the new club. In the meantime, the club hopes that the voters of South Lake will support the club by voting yes on Measure P.

Yes on P is a measure within South Lake Tahoe that approves a modest 2 percent increase in the transient occupancy tax (TOT) paid by visitors to South Lake Tahoe. By law, funds from this measure may only be used for recreation in South Lake Tahoe, and priority will be given to the construction of a new recreation and swim complex on Rufus Allen Boulevard. Measure P does not increase taxes paid by local residents or businesses by one penny.

Jude Wood, Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe executive director