Boys and Girls Club engagement centre near completion
The Summerside Boys and Girls Club is putting the final touches on a new engagement centre where the kitchen will be the most important room in the building.
Programs offered at the new centre in P.E.I.'s second city are geared to those aged 13 to 19. However, executive director Adam Binkley said parents will also be part of one program designed to help families talk together.
"Families are going to be gathered together with the sole purpose of building communication, love, trust, resiliency — while they're making dinner," said Binkley.
Binkley said most Islanders know the supper table is the centre of the home, and the engagement centre wants to use it to build its program.
"They're going to sit down they're going to eat their dinner talk about their triumphs, maybe some barriers that happened that day or within the week," he said.
The program is free, and also offers children the chance to learn more about how to avoid drugs, alcohol and deal with bullies. It was build using $600,000 in donations, and a new fundraising campaign will be launched to pay for the ongoing costs of running the new youth engagement centre.
Binkley said the expansion also means the club's traditional programs will benefit by making more room for younger children in the main clubhouse. The official opening date has not been set yet, but the programs are expected to start in December.