Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion The Kenai Boys and Girls Club clubhouse serves breakfast, lunch and a snack Monday through Friday during the week to all children in the community 18 years or under through the Summer Food Service Program for Children, Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Kenai, Alaska.

Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion The Kenai Boys and Girls Club clubhouse serves breakfast, lunch and a snack Monday through Friday during the week to all children in the community 18 years or under through the Summer Food Service Program for Children, Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Kenai, Alaska.

Boys and Girls club funding requests illuminate needs

  • By Kelly Sullivan
  • Tuesday, June 30, 2015 11:35pm
  • News

The Kenai Peninsula Boys and Girls Clubs were denied two critical, capital project-funding requests during this year’s legislative session that would have improved and stabilized daily food and development services for youth at two local programs.

The Kenai Clubhouse Child Nutritional Program asked for upgrades for the onsite kitchen that provides 112 suppers every weekday during the school year without access to a stove or dishwasher. The Kasilof Clubhouse Morning and Afterschool Youth Development Programs applied for three years of continued funding support for the morning and afterschool programs.

“We had no idea if we would get the funding,” said Clubhouse Director Kim Dent. “We did a good ‘ask’ and there was just no money in the (state’s) budget.”

The total amount for the two requests was $335,000, $140,000 of which was for Kenai’s kitchen, and $195,000 to cover three years of operating expenses for Kasilof’s programs, according to the requests.

Snacks have been offered at local clubs for 26 years, and the first supper was served in August 2012 at the Nikiski location, said Executive Director of the Kenai Peninsula Boys and Girls Clubs Heather Schloeman. That’s a difference between a two-component snack and a five-component meal for kids, she said.

“Now, seven of the eight local programs are serving suppers,” Schloeman said. “This includes prepping meals for the Kenai Teen Center that does not have a kitchen at their facility.”

The meals are funded through the State of Alaska Child Nutritional Programs, Schloeman said.

In it’s beginning stages, in January 2012, 933 suppers were served, and 6,263 suppers were served in April 2015, according to the peninsula-wide meal counts Schloeman has been tracking since commencement. The plan is to continue to increase those numbers, she said.

“Not all families are able to provide the types of meals we are serving,” Schloeman said. “The community is obviously in need of these programs. “We have our kids for long periods of time during the summer months and right after school during after school time. Our kids our hungry and these programs are a benefit to them and their families.”

Dinner at the Kasilof club is the last meal some members may receive until the next morning, Schloeman wrote in the funding request. The Kenai Clubhouse is cooking hundreds of meals weekly without a dishwasher, warming oven, stove top, commercial refrigeration and with minimal prep space, Schloeman wrote in the funding request.

There are three teen programs that provide mentoring and recreational services for children ages 13 through 18, and five clubhouses ages 5 through 12, across the Kenai Peninsula, that see 420 kids in total every day, Schloeman said.

The demand is being met, but with obvious difficulties, Schloeman said.

Raelyn Passe, Tristan Sigura and Parker Mattox all attend the summer program at the Kenai Clubhouse five days a week. The clubhouse is open from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Passe said her favorite meal is the nachos, and Mattox said he likes the cheeseburgers.

Mattox said the meals are usually very healthy, with a vegetable and fruit option at every single meal.

“Sometimes if we are lucky enough we get a cookie or something,” Mattox said.

The three said they never go hungry after a meal unless they chose not to get more food. Without the meals Passe said she would be tired and irritable. She would have trouble concentrating on activities such as schoolwork and spending time with friends would be less enjoyable. Mattox and Sigura agreed.

The renovations would have helped tremendously, Lee said. All preparation and cooking would be easier to execute if the upgrades could be afforded, Lee said. Luckily for items such as the nachos and cheeseburgers loved by Passe and Mattox, beef can be cooked in the oven, she said.

Alaska has two Boys and Girls Club organizations, one for the Kenai Peninsula, with six sites, and one based in Anchorage, with 30 sites spread across the state. In addition, there are several separate locations on military installations that operate under a military charter, said Director of Development and Communications for Alaska Boys and Girls Clubs, Jennifer Brown.

Alaska Boys and Girls Club Chief Executive Officer, Alana Humphrey said the state’s two organizations operate on a combination of grant, foundation, private and corporate funding.

Both organizations have also received State funding for capital projects but received no project funding from the 2015 legislative session, Humphrey said. Federal funding for the organizations has declined sharply since 2008, she said.

In the Kasilof development program request, Schloeman wrote the program has been able to pool resources, and has been using all sources of funding “extremely conservatively and efficiently,” but “would be hard pressed to continue the program without a significant amount of funding.”

“What I try to get across to the community, is that if they want quality programs from after school to sports programs the money has to come from somewhere,” Schloeman said.

 

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com

 

More in News

David Meyer. Photo courtesy of Chantrelle Meyer
Volunteers continue search for missing Happy Valley man

David Meyer was reported missing June 11 while kayaking in Cook Inlet.

Boats at Douglas Harbor under mostly clear skies on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
80°F in Juneau will trigger first-ever National Weather Service heat advisories

Officials say sun’s angle in Alaska makes temperatures feel higher compared to other states.

People carrying flags and signs line the Sterling Highway for a “No Kings” protest in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna ‘No Kings’ protest draws hundreds

The nationwide protest came the same day as a military parade organized at the behest of the Trump administration.

Council member Jordan Chilson speaks during a Soldotna City Council work session in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council mulls change to meeting time

Meetings would be moved from 6 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. under a resolution set to be considered on June 25.

Mountain View Elementary School is photographed on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Mountain View vandalized by children, police say

Staff who arrived at the school on Monday found significant damage, according to police.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress 4th grade reading scores during a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025. Alaska is highlighted in yellow, while Mississippi is in red. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy vetoes education funding to $500 BSA increase

Per-student funding was increased by $700 in an education bill passed by the Alaska Legislature in May.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Job Center is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on April 15, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Minimum wage increases to $13 per hour on July 1

Since 2014, Alaska’s minimum wage has increased from $7.75 to $11.91 through the Alaska Wage and Hour Act.

Leads for the Sterling Safety Corridor Improvements Project field questions and showcase their “preferred design” during an open house meeting at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Preferred design alternative for Sterling Highway safety corridor introduced at town hall

The project is intended to redesign and construct improvements to the highway to reduce the number of fatal and serious collisions.

Alaska State Troopers badge. File photo
Recovered remains confirmed to be missing Texas boaters; fourth set of remains found

Remains were recovered from the vessel sank that in Kachemak Bay last August.

Most Read