ATO Checks Out Boys and Girls Club

The mood at the Oxford Boys and Girls Club basketball court was intense this semester, as the youths prepared for their new archrival — the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

The basketball match tipped off right after a check ceremony in which several ATO members, including philanthropy co-chairs Bill Dickerson and Troy Jackson, presented a check for $36,000 to the director of the Boys and Girls Club, Christy Grice.

Each year ATO picks a different organization to give back to, Dickerson said. This year, the Boys and Girls Club was the recipient. ATO raised the money throughout the semester by selling T-shirts, barbecue plates and hosting a tennis tournament.

“Because we are in such a financial bind, we have so many uses for it,” Grice said. “I mean, programs, the upkeep of the building, supplies. Right now we just need everything. The cuts and the economy situation are really hurting our profits badly, so we’re really just kind of depending on donations from individuals to make it.”

Due to lack of funds, all the Boys and Girls Club faculty members had just taken a 10 percent pay cut, Grice said.

“It’s a sigh of relief because if they hadn’t done this, I don’t know what we would’ve done,” Grice said. “It would have been tough, and it still is — it’s a big help but still we have a long way to go. That certainly pulled us out of the negative.”

The funding will make sure that the Boys and Girls Club can have some of its programs, Grice said.

“We were possibly going to have to shut down our summer program this summer, and that was going to hurt a lot of parents, but now we won’t,” Grice said.
“When I tell them they were in the nick of time, they were in the nick of time.”

Dickerson said the Boys and Girls Club is a program he really appreciates.

“I’ve been a volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club before in Tupelo,” Dickerson said, “And it’s just such a great moment to be able to reach out to an organization like this.”

Jackson said he feels like the Boys and Girls Club will use the money well.

“I feel great about doing this,” Jackson said.

“When we came and talked to Ms. Grice, she said they were all in the red and that they needed the help. It was actually kind of a godsend that we came at the time that we did.”

When asked who was winning the basketball game taking place, Jackson shamefully lowered his head and said, “Not ATO. These guys are good.”

For more information about the Boys and Girls Clubs of America go to www.bgca.org.