The brand-new Temple Terrace Boys & Girls Club celebrated their grand opening on Monday, March 25, 2019. Structured around a community collaboration model, The City of Temple Terrace, Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Parks & Recreation are working together to bring new opportunities and learning facilities for the youth and families in Temple Terrace.
Established in the former site of the Temple Park Recreation Center at 7701 Temple Terrace Highway, the club’s main building features an innovation lab stocked with laptops and a learning center which holds over 3,000 books collected by the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council. Surrounded by six acres of land, there is more than enough recreation space for the kids to play sports, including a soccer field and a basketball court that is in the works.
The 100 children and teens that are on their way to becoming members of the club are highly supported by the Temple Terrace Police Department, who will ensure a daily presence of a law enforcement mentors to create stronger community ties with local officers. Championed by Temple Terrace Police Chief Ken Albano and Temple Terrace Mayor Mel Jurado, they both made guest appearances to promote the opening and vouch for their dedication to make the club a success for the community.
The main donor, the Sam & Laurice Hachem Foundation, along with other generous benefactors, have invested in this program to enable the youth involved to stay on track to graduate from high school with a plan for the future, learn to demonstrate good character and citizenship, as well as living a healthy lifestyle. The after school and summer programs, such as “Power Hour,” prevention lessons, STEM and art curriculums, will be sustained through partnerships with outside organizations, local schools and the police department, that will represent various demographics and build relationships to teach the members life skills.
Attendees tasting Kid’s Kitchen plates.
Tampa Bay Farm2School Kid’s Kitchen team supported the event by catering plant-based dishes for the 100 event attendees including local elected officials, community volunteer leaders, donors, business owners, religious leaders and others who help support the center. Serving up crunchy cucumber sandwich bites and vegetarian burrito bowls, the dishes prepared by the Kids’ Kitchen team were a hit with everyone and even surprised some with the all natural, plant-based recipes.
If you would like to continue supporting our programs, as well as the new Boys & Girls Club, please contact us via email: ttfarm2school@gmail.com, or donate on our website. For more information on what TBF2S is all about, continue exploring our pages and consider donating out to help support our partnership with the new club.
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