LCRA and City of Schulenburg Donate to Boys and Girls Club
LCRA and City of Schulenburg representatives present a $19,512 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Champion Valley for restroom renovations. The grant is part of LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program. Pictured, from left to right, are: Margaret D. “Meg” Voelter, LCRA Board member; Lori A. Berger, LCRA Board member; Jennifer Owens, executive director of the Boys & Girl Clubs of Champion Valley; Rob Darville, first vice president of the Boys & Girls Clubs; Mariette Bellamy, board chair of the Boys & Girls Clubs; Tami Walker, Schulenburg city administrator; and Nikita Glass, club director of the Boys & Girls Clubs.
A $19,512 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority and the City of Schulenburg will help the Boys & Girls Clubs of Champion Valley, Schulenburg unit renovate its restrooms to make them handicapped accessible and more energy efficient.
The Community Development Partnership Program grant, along with $4,878 in matching funds, will help the organization modernize its restrooms to make them comply with the American with Disabilities Act, as well as add new low-flow toilets, motion-activated faucets and energy-efficient LED lighting.
“We’re an after-school enrichment program that serves all of our local youth ages 6-18,” said Jennifer Owens, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Champion Valley. “Our youth come to us and we help them with their homework, provide snacks and offer programs such as STEM and arts and crafts.”
The renovations will also allow the organization to host more community events in the facility.
The organization serves all of Fayette County and is open Monday through Friday, and on occasional weekends for special events. The group has been in its current building since 2005.
“Our restrooms right now are outdated and not ADA compliant, and by making these renovations, we can provide safer and more accessible restrooms for our kids and visitors,” Owens said. “We’ve wanted to do this for over a year and we needed this grant to make it happen. We are so grateful and thankful to LCRA and the City of Schulenburg for granting us the funds for our remodeling project.”
The community grant is one of 25 grants awarded recently through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves. The City of Schulenburg is one of LCRA’s wholesale electric customers and is a partner in the grant program.
Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in July. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.