Patrick’s cuts hit Boys and Girls Club

LYNN – Among millions of dollars shaved from the state’s budget by Gov. Deval Patrick this week is a drastic reduction in the state’s Boys and Girls Club line item, cutting state funding to the organization’s Lynn branch by 50 percent.Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lynn Director Robert “Obie” Barker said Thursday that the organization would lose approximately $40,000 in funding this year, a number that is actually lower than he had originally anticipated.”There is a Boys and Girls Club line item through a partnership we have with the state – I was actually nervous that they were going to cut the whole thing,” he said. “They ended up only cutting it by 50 percent, so it could have been much more drastic.”Barker said the organization would feel the cuts in its staffing – employees will not be laid off, but will work shorter schedules. Part-time employees will be scaled back first, and the organization could also change the hours that a receptionist is at the front desk.”We are going to try and have the most minimal impact of services as possible,” Barker said. “That means we will probably cut back some staff member hours, whether that means cutting back the hours of the receptionist or at the front desk, or say a part-time employee works a four hour shift, that person would probably go down to two hour shifts.”The Boys and Girls Club will also attempt to cut back energy costs by stretching out heating oil deliveries during the winter, and potentially closing an hour early to save some money on electricity and other utilities.Barker said he and his staff have been planning for these cuts and have met as recently as Wednesday to discuss the possible changes the organization will have to make.With the economy in peril across the board, the cuts in state funding are just the latest blow to non-profits like the Boys and Girls Club. Revenue from both corporate and private donors is down as well, and annual grants that the organization relies on have been reduced as corporate America continues to struggle.”Grants that we usually see coming in at $20,000 now are coming in at $5,000 or $10,000,” Barker said. “Individual giving has gone down, too, with everyone losing money in the stock market, it is natural that the giving would go down, too.”It is not like we are the only place that is affected by this, they are not picking on one organization. Everybody in this city and this state is feeling this.”Barker will meet with the Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors this Tuesday to outline some potential money-saving changes at the organizations.While fewer staff member hours and an earlier closing time will affect some of the after-school programs for children, for the most part, the essential services offered to members will not change.