GPCF Awards $50,000 and Pledges Another $50,000 to New Polson B&G Club Facility

The Greater Polson Community Foundation (GPCF) hand-delivered $50,000 to the new Boys and Girls Club (B&G Club) soon to be constructed in Polson, and pledged another $50,000. This donation is the largest the GPCF has made since it was first organized in 2008.

                Toni Young, GPCF president, on behalf of our generous donors, presented a $50,000 check to Aric Cooksley, executive director of the local B&G Club, at the annual “Great Futures Breakfast” held Tuesday, April 3 at the newly remodeled and expanded B&G Club facility in Ronan attended by 166 B&G Club supporters.

Another $50,000 will be awarded by the GPCF in the near future when the B&G Club fund-raising campaign committee needs a special “boost” to get them over the goal line of raising the required $4.5 million.  Then construction of the new Polson facility can begin.  GPCF directors and donors see this second installment as a “challenge match” that will inspire other organizations and individuals to get behind a project that will offer so many positive opportunities to our children and teenagers, both now and for future generations.  “We are all about permanent investments in our community,” said Penny Jarecki, Chair of the GPCF Philanthropy Committee.

This $100,000 has been accumulating in a special “set aside” fund the GPCF directors and donors created several years ago to jumpstart or complete projects that would make a significant and permanent impact on the greater Polson community. The new Polson B&G Club is exactly the kind of permanent project the directors and donors had in mind because it fills such a vital need in Polson.

Toni Young stated, “Our Foundation has a strong commitment to kids in Polson, giving them the best opportunities possible as well as the potential to change their lives.  The entire community of Polson, but young and old, will benefit from the addition of this wonderful facility.”