Boys & Girls Club celebrates Walmart gift

The daily meeting at Havre Walmart this morning turned into a special treat for employees.

Department heads received lollipops and a round of applause from the staff and board members of the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line. And they got hit with a snap quiz.

The cause for the celebration was a $30,000 grant the club received for its building program from the state Walmart operation.

The club has worked well with the Havre Walmart, said Rachel Dean, the club's endowment director. Manager Cliff Towers has helped secure many smaller grants and has worked as a volunteer at the club himself.

Because of that relationship, she said, the club was eligible for a Walmart Foundation grant.

When store managers gathered for the morning meeting, Dean thanked them and handed Towers a big handful of oversized lollipops.

Then she divided the staffers into groups and sprang a pop quiz on them - questions about the Boys & Girls Club and the services it offers.

Q. How many lunches does the Boy's & Girls Club serve daily during its summer program? 60, 70 or 80?

Eighty is the correct answer. The team won more lollipops for getting the right answer.

Dean said the event was designed to thank Walmart for its continuing support of the club and its efforts to help reach its $1.5 million goal to expand the club so more students can use it.

The project involves establishing a multipurpose room where all kinds of activities can be held, including some community events. As part of that effort, the front of the building will undergo some alterations.

Dean said she was pleased with the results so far. Seventy-nine percent of the goal has been reached, she said. If people are thinking about donating, she said, this would be a good time. A matching grant has been donated, meaning every donation will be doubled.

"If people give $100, we get $200," she said.

Once this building project is completed, a second phase will be undertaken, she said. Some have been displaced. Club workers have been relocated in the old snack bar, she said. The club wants to rectify this, but the area for young people has priority, she said.

Construction could begin as early as April, she said. The club expects to get an asbestos abatement report within the next two weeks, she said. That report may give a green light to the construction, she said.