Director: Boys and Girls Clubs a Gold Mine for Students

(Photo from Elizabeth Cumbest)

Kendra Safford, 2011 Youth of the Year for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Jackson County; Cynthia Baber-Strunk, chairwoman of the Bacot/McCarty Foundation Board of Directors; Lee Bond, vice president of IP Casino Resort Spa and foundation board member; Devon Kyles, member of the Jolly McCarty unit in Gautier; Mariah Wells of Moss Point Outreach (Breanna Benjamin of the Andrew Johnson unit not pictured) display an oversized check for $10,000 that was awarded to the youth organization by the Bacot/McCarty Foundation. The presentation was made during the 2011 Steak & Steak Dinner/Silent Auction on June 23 at the civic center. Chief Professional Officer Catherine Glaude had said that $70,000 was the goal this year for the fundraiser. During dinner, she called clubs a gold mine for students in Jackson County. Featured speaker Irwin F. Edenzon, president of Huntington Ingalls Industries, reminded the students about honor and responsibility. Some 500 youth and community professionals and leaders attended the event.

Steak & Steak to Help Children, Families

Steak and Steak photo from archives of The Mississippi Press (2010)
Official poster of Boys and Girls Clubs of Jackson County, Steak & Steak dinner 2011.

PASCAGOULA -- The annual Steak & Steak Dinner and Silent Auction gives members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Jackson County an opportunity to meet and talk with corporate executives and community leaders who sponsor the meal and award ceremony.

Sometimes the meetings lead to further involvement in the lives of the children who are chosen to attend the event each year, according to Jennifer Joseph Anderson, operations manager of the youth agency.


One year, said Anderson, a corporate employee sat with a Boys and Girls Clubs member who needed a pair of shoes. "He just called and said he wanted to buy her some shoes," she said.

Another year, one of the business professionals became Santa Claus for a student who needed help. "We have had some success from that," she said.

Normally, two Boys and Girls Clubs members are seated with six corporate professionals who take the time to engage the students in conversation and learn about their lives and ambitions.

This year, said Anderson, the fundraiser means the continuation of a 14-year program that has been used to teach students how to stay away from drugs and alcohol and to prevent early pregnancy.

Anderson said the downward economy also has hit operation of the county's Boys and Girls programs in Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, Moss Point and Gautier. The United Way agency, which provides afterschool and summer programs for students ages 5 to 18 years, will lose a grant that provided $25,000 last year for substance abuse/pregnancy prevention. The Highway Safety Grant initially provided $30,000 in funding.

"A lot of grants have been slashed," she said. "We have had to come up with another plan."

Catherine Glaude, chief executive professional, hopes to collect about $70,000 by the time the silent auction and dinner is held Thursday night at the Jackson County "B.E. McGinty" Civic Center at the county fairgrounds on Shortcut Road.

Anderson said the fundraiser will provide the needed funds to help with the shortfall in grants.

Funds from the Steak and Steak will come from individual tickets and corporate-sponsored table.

This year's theme is "Strong Ships Need Strong Anchors.