‘It’s just a new dawn here’: Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club families get free Martens Center memberships
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Champaign Park District and the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club are working together to help bring families together. Families of students in the program can now use the Martens Center at no cost.
This partnership helps to get families engaged in different activities as a unit, while also showing what both the Martens Center and the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club have to offer.
“We have our own door that says the dorm where Boys’ and Girls’ Club, where families can go in and out of to drop children off to pick them up,” said Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club CEO Amy Brown.
Now, it doesn’t have to be just a stop and go. Entire families of summer camp students can now access the Martens Center for free.
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“It was really an exciting moment. You could just see all the faces light up and the parents were so engaged, I think they couldn’t believe it at first,” Brown said. “It was kind of like winning the lottery.”
Champaign Park district marketing director Chelsea Norton says she wanted to give more people the opportunity to put their facility to use.
“Which includes access to open gym, an indoor weight room, an indoor walking track and a play area. So, we’re really excited to be able to kind of continue to expand upon the partnership,” Norton said.
She said that students are already in the building after school and then in the summer for camps, so they had the idea to give those children and their families an opportunity to use the building even more.
“And they can do it as a family. So that’s the beautiful part,” Brown added.
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Norton said the activity center can serve as a third place for community involvement.
“You know, on a rainy day, you can’t go to the park. You can go to Martin Center and utilize that play area, the weight room, the walking track,” Norton added.
Brown said the increased usage will also help people see exactly what the Boys and Girls Club is up to. She says they’ve already being seeing growth this year.
“You’re never going to wake up on a Saturday morning and not have something to do if you’re part of the Boys and Girls Club,” Brown said.
The free memberships will last for one year, or as long as your child is enrolled in the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club.
“It’s just a new dawn here at the club and we’re excited that this is one of the real big benefits,” Brown said.
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