CEO says support for youth club vital

Tupperware leader urges funding for Boys & Girls Clubs

Bradenton, Florida, Herald
http://www.bradenton.com/business/story/1421829.html

Movers and shakers in Bradenton took a pause for a cause Wednesday to hear a motivational discussion from Tupperware Brand Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Goings about the need to fund Boys & Girls Clubs.

Goings said the Boys & Girls Clubs organization was in need of a “renaissance” because of the problems facing today’s youth.

To make his point, Goings, who has served for many years as member of the Boys & Girls Clubs Board of Governors, cited recent figures from a four-county area near Orlando, where he lives.

“Thirteen-point-eight percent of arrests were teenagers in the four-county area. Six-tenths of 1 percent were club kids,” Goings said. “They don’t get in trouble. And the one I’m most proud of: There were 1,958 babies born to girls less than 18 years old in that four-county area. One of them was to a club girl. And she happened to be a member of a club that was closed for six months for renovation. It works. The numbers work.”

Goings said it takes about $1,000 a year to sponsor a child in Boys & Girls Clubs. It costs about $67,000 a year to house a prisoner, he said.

“We have 5 percent of the world’s population here in the United States,” Goings said. “You ready for this? (We have) 25 percent of the world’s prison population. We’ve got to do something about it . . . This isn’t about ‘swim and gym,’ and ‘that’s a nice little after-school program.’ This is so much more than that.”

“Condee (Condoleeza) Rice is just coming on our board — we haven’t announced it — but I’ve met with her about three times over the last two months,” Goings said. “And she asked us right before she stepped down as secretary of state, would we send a mission to Palestine to show them how to set up clubs. And the reason is, they’re having yet another generation of kids raised with nothing to do except hate Israelis. And you’ve got to start giving them something good.”

Goings said it was imperative that Boys & Girls Clubs boards be aggressive in trying to raise funds for new locations.

Bradenton is serving only about one-fourth of the kids it should through the organization, he said.
Goings was introduced by Rob Parker, CEO of Kiwanis International.

Carl Weeks, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County, said he was impressed by Goings’ presentation.

“What I think I got out of this is, we know that there are issues here in this community, and that we as a community need to get together and do the best job that we can to keep our kids healthy, keep them vibrant, help them graduate from school, help them be successful,” Weeks said. “Unfortunately, it does take money. But the point is, if we don’t do this the (statistics are) staggering.”