DUMAS, Ark. – Dumas will soon be opening its very first Boys and Girls Club.
A common question often asked is “What’s the solution to stopping youth crime?” That question is often answered with “give them something to do.”
The city of Dumas is bringing that to light with its first Boys and Girls Club targeting March 31 as their opening date.
It will be located at the old Central Elementary School on Court Street.
In the past, kids in Dumas would have to commute to McGehee, Arkansas for a Boys and Girls Club. McGehee is about 20 miles away.
Spencer Chastain, CEO Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeast Arkansas is proud to bring the city of Dumas its first Boys and Girls Club to meet its needs.
“Provide kids a safe place after school where they get mentoring, tutoring, character development, a hot meal every day,” Chastain said.
Giving kids a safe home away from home.
“If kids aren’t safe, nothing else we do matters,” he added.
Community members like Glen and Terrell Jackson said that the Boys and Girls Club is “a great start for Dumas.”
“I’m hoping what they are doing and what they are starting is doing to deter some things,” Glen Jackson said.
Hearts are heavy in Dumas after a shooting this week left a 15-year-old dead. He was found near a park on Short Street.
Glen said he feels youth violence is “starting to become like a normal thing, which it’s not.”
Chastain was heartbroken when he found out about the homicide.
“Losing a kid, a student, a friend at 15-years old, you don’t come back from that,” he said.
Chastain said the community has been very open and welcoming to the Boys and Girls Club.
“Dumas has always kind of been a place where we wanted to be,” Chastain said.
He added that it has taken a decade’s worth of work to bring to Dumas, and that work is much appreciated by Glen Jackson.
“I’m hoping that won’t be the stopping point but that’s a great start within itself,” Jackson said.
Those that would like to register your child for the Boys and Girls Club of Dumas, can do so by going to the old Central Elementary school on Court Street.
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