SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A new Boys and Girls Club facility will be serving up to 200 more kids.

The new facility will be inside the new Williams Elementary School building.

“My favorite part about being in Boys & Girls Club is with my friends,” said Amira Allen, a Boys & Girls Club member.

“She’s working on her homework and she’s building a relationship with her peers and the adults there,” said Jasmine Allen, Amira’s mother.

“We play a lot of games, and also we watch movies and eat popcorn,” Amira said.

Jasmine Allen said the Boys and Girls Club program helps her out a lot, “I feel confident that my daughter’s being taken care of, looked after, while I stay at work and then I know I can come to get her and if I’m running late, she would have already eaten dinner.”

Brandy Harris, chief executive officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Springfield, tells us how much money is needed for this new facility, “we are currently running a capital campaign to raise $1.2 million and that covers construction fees, architect fees, equipment, and some operational cushion for the first two years.

Harris said the money will not only benefit kids, “It’s more than just here’s money. It’s a future for a kid. It’s a stable adult for a kid. It’s a safe place to go before and after school. And if you have it in your heart to give and to contribute to this project, we would really appreciate it.”

But also the neighborhood, “it’s just overwhelming like I can’t believe it honestly. I walk to that bridge to pick up my sister and truly, that things that happened on the way home were not good. Like it wasn’t a safe space for us. And now, this is a safe space for a lot of kids.”

“Sometimes, their bus would break down, so the kids have to walk to their afterschool program. But with this program being right here like if the weather’s bad, you can just walk down the hall,” said Allen.

The Boys & Girls Club fee for one child is $45 per semester.

This includes access to afterschool programs, meals, tutoring, and more.