DeSoto Boys & Girls Club project receives massive boost from anonymous donor

An anonymous donor has given a huge chunk of change to the Boys & Girls Club of Manatee County.

The $500,000 donation was gifted to the Invest In Kids program, which is the organization’s capital campaign for replacing the current DeSoto Boys & Girls Club. The nonprofit says that money will go specifically toward the new club’s commercial kitchen.

According to the Boys & Girls Club, the donor was looking to “make a positive impact on the health and well-being of children and teens” and is a longtime supporter of the program.

The new club will have a state-of-the-art culinary kitchen. Children will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience while learning lessons pertaining to healthy eating, kitchen safety and nutrition. Local chefs plan to stop by to share their expertise, and programs will be offered for members looking to explore career paths in the culinary arts.

Dawn Stanhope, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County, said the current DeSoto club’s kitchen is less spacious, which forces groups to practice in a multi-purpose room with tabletop cooking equipment. The new club’s size will fix that problem, while allowing even more children to participate.

“The new club’s increased member capacity from 240 to 600 kids daily, combined with the commercial kitchen and garden, will allow us to provide more of our community’s youth with valuable garden-to-table life skills that encourage healthy living,” Stanhope said. “This is just one example of how the thoughtful generosity of our campaign donors will transform more young lives.”

Thanks to the benefactor’s $500,000 donation, the Invest in Kids campaign has raised $5.7 million of its $7.5 million goal. Earlier donations allowed the Boys & Girls Club to secure the funds needed to begin construction in the spring.

The current DeSoto club is five decades old but will continue to operate while the new one is built on the east end of the property at 5231 34th St. W., Bradenton.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 6:42 PM with the headline "DeSoto Boys & Girls Club project receives massive boost from anonymous donor."