'Keep the Lights on' event highlights need for after school programs

Boys and Girls Clubs from across the country will be having "Lights on Afterschool" on Thursday, October 20 as a way to highlight the importance of a safe place for kids to go after school.

From 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the students who attend the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe (BGCLT) will show how they feel about the club by designing the future building that will house them.

“This year is very important, as we are looking for a new home for the Club, and need support from our local community,” said Jude Wood, Executive Director of BGCLT. "The designs that the members create will be considered in the plan for a new home."

Wood is referring to the possibility of her club needing to find a new home if the Lake Tahoe Unified School District takes back their Al Tahoe Elementary location where BGCLT is currently housed. With an expanding younger population, overcrowding of the district's pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade is anticipated and the former Al Tahoe is proposed to be the new home for those young students.

At the Lights on Afterschool event, there will be information for parents, guardians and members of the community, about the importance of Yes on Measure P, the Club 25.26 program, as well as their opportunity to make recommendations on what they wish to see included in the Club’s new home.

So far this year, BGCLT has had over 740 members walk through their doors, proving to be a vital community resource.

If Measure P passes, BGCLT has the potential to move into the new recreation facility that would be built.

Yes on P is a measure within South Lake Tahoe that approves a 2% increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) paid by visitors to the City. By law, funds from this measure may only be used for recreation in SLT, 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.

“This important measure will be part of a grand solution in finding a new home for the Boys & Girls Club,” said Kelly Giardina, Director of Operations for the Club. "The City is willing to let the Boys and Girls Club utilize space in the new Rec Center for youth programs."