Wade Copas, unit director of the Boys and Girls Club of Glasgow-Barren County, speaks during a check presentation held at the TJ Samson Health Pavilion on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
BY BRENNAN D. CRAIN, WCLU News
GLASGOW — The Boys and Girls Club of Glasgow and Barren County received $1 million during a check presentation held Tuesday morning.
The gathering was hosted at the T.J. Samson Health Pavilion in Glasgow. Among the attendees were members of the local Club staff were in attendance along with Kentucky Senator David Givens and Representative Steve Riley.
“I’m so proud of the work they do and knew from the start that this was a worthy cause,” Givens said.
The money was presented as a part of a larger disbursal to nine other Boys and Girls Clubs across Kentucky. Legislators met for a budget session earlier this year and were able to approve the $10 million package requested by the Boys and Girls Club Alliance of Kentucky.
The $1 million being sent to Glasgow and Barren County will fund two major projects. Those include ongoing construction of a satellite club location in Cave City and transportation needs.
Wade Copas, the unit director for the Glasgow-Barren County Boys and Girls Club, said the Cave City location will be housed at the corner of Duke Street and 1st Street in the former Houchens Industries grocery store. Construction is expected to begin once funding is obtained.
“It’s absolutely a game changer,” Copas said. “This is the largest single donation given to our club.”
Copas said the club applied for a city block grant worth $750,000 alongside the city of Cave City. A private donation worth $250,000 has been pledged to the project, and $500,000 of the $1 million given Tuesday will also be applied to the Cave City project. That totals to $1.5 million to make the vision a reality.
The club opened Sept. 14, 2006, according to their website, and now serves over 500 area kids. Nearly 300 of those are served at the Boys and Girls Club location along Cheatham Street alone.
“Obviously, it was an opportunity I was going to fight for,” Riley said. “What better organization to fight for than one that’s going to try and do everything possible to make our young people’s lives better.”
