A Boys and Girls Club in Georgetown is no longer in fear of ending its programing after a budget move by the D.C. Council this week. The council added $610,000 in one time funding to the proposed budget this week.
“We are just very grateful that the city council took an interest in the kids at Jelleff,” said Michael McDonald, vice president of Impact and Innovation at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.
Last week, the organization demonstrated outside the Jelleff Recreational Center in Georgetown, which is the club’s home, after it learned funding for programs at the club was removed in Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed budget. The funding disappeared ahead of the city’s planned $28 million renovation of the center, which would result in it closing for two years.
In the budget process in D.C., once a budget is proposed by the mayor, the council goes through it before it votes on the measure and sends it back to the mayor for her signature. A spokesman for Council Chair Phil Mendelson confirmed the funds were added back into the budget.
“We are really grateful for the work of Chairman Mendelson and Council member Brooke Pinto, who really made sure that this was a priority for consideration before the council, and just in the nick of time,” McDonald said.
WTOP reached out to the mayor’s office for comment on the funding being restored to the budget.
“Mayor Bowser has fully funded the complete renovation of the Jelleff Recreation Center and her strong support of the District’s world-class family programming is why D.C. has been recognized as the No. 1 big city park system in the country four years in a row,” City Administrator Kevin Donahue told WTOP in a statement.
McDonald said that in the two days after they revealed the funding had disappeared, the office forwarded 2,000 emails it received from families involved with the club and community members who backed their call for funding to be restored.
“A Boys and Girls Club really is a community effort and this was a good example of the community coming together to support something that does a lot of good in the community,” McDonald said.
With the money back in the budget, McDonald said their attention will turn once again to finding a temporary home for the Boys and Girls Club until the rec center work is completed.
“We’ve been working in Georgetown at the Jelleff Club for 70 years, and it’s our intention to be there 70 more,” he said.
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