The Boys and Girls Club of America has had forced association with the case of Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman, but club officials said the organization shouldn’t take any of the blame.

Although the funds they received are now questioned, the club is trying to emphasize its program, and not the Workman case.

“I think people hopefully will separate the two issues and realize we provide this really needed service for the community, and that we’re going to continue to function and we’re going to move on … to offer the great programs that we do,” said Weston Parsons, executive director of Utah County Boys and Girls Club.

Workman is facing felony charges for using taxpayer money to hire bookkeepers to work at the Murray Boys and Girls Club.

“I know her intent wasn’t to misuse funds,” said Bob Dunn, executive director of South Valley Boys and Girls Club, which is located in Murray. “There’s no question about that.”

Neither the Provo or the Murray locations seem to be having problems with current donors.

“We really haven’t received that much negative fallout from it ourselves,” Parsons said. “All of our donors are in contact with us, and they seem positive. They realize it’s a separation of the club and this situation.”

Dunn also said those who donate to the Murray club have been very understanding.

“People have actually been pretty good,” Dunn said. “I don’t think we’ve lost any direct funding. We know we haven’t had people say ‘we’re not going to give it to you because of this.’”

Dunn said he understands why this issue is newsworthy, and said the funds they received were not used inappropriately.

“Although the club benefited, no one received a raise or anything like that,” he said.

Dunn also said he plans to allow officials to do the investigating, and if his organization has to get involved in court they will be as honest as they can.

He said he wishes the club wasn’t in the news because of Workman, but since they are they’ll “just face it.”

“We’re spending time dealing with these issues that we wished we didn’t have to,” Dunn said.

Parsons said he hopes people won’t forget about all the good programs the club offers.

“I think the biggest thing is this scandal happened and people associated the Boys and Girls Club, but they have to realize the services we’ve provided,” he said. “Over 1,000 kids a day are getting homework help, they’re not going home to empty houses, we’re providing employment for BYU and UVSC students, and we’re offering volunteer opportunities for college students.”

One thing the Provo club has done as a result of the Workman case is put together a presentation plan. Dunn said they were planning on the presentation before the case, but the Workman situation just sped up the process.

“We realized we need to get our name out there for good as quickly as possible,” Parsons said. “So, that’s been the major thing that’s come of all of it. We just released the press plan sooner.”

Overall, Dunn is confident about his clubs involvement with the funds.

“On our end, everything was covered, but I guess for the county … we’ll find out if they did things appropriately or not,” he said.

To find out more about the Boys and Girls Club in Provo, visit their Web site at www.bgclub.provo.edu.



Copyright Brigham Young University 11 Oct 2004