November 9, 2023 • 28 mins
Clint Girlie from iHeartRadio visits with Jeff Long from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield to discuss their Christmas partnership: Angel Tree which provides gifts to kids in need during the holiday season with the help of donations from our local community. They also discuss the various programs the Boys & Girls Clubs offer throughtout the year to childred 5-18 in the Springfield area.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Well, hello and welcome to ashow that we call iHeart the Ozarks.
(00:03):
My name's Clint Gurley. I'm realizingnow my vocals very hot. I'm going
to turn those down a little bit. You need it, but you don't
need to blasted in your face.Glad you're here. This is a thirty
minute show that airs across all fiveof our iHeartRadio stations here in Springfield,
and it focuses on community groups orefforts, sometimes just a collection of people
getting together. But the one thingthey all have in common is that they've
(00:23):
all come together is do a bunchof good for our community. So this
show iHeart the Ozarks is our opportunityto not only celebrate that, but also
share what's happening in the hopes thatmaybe if it strikes something inside you and
makes you want to maybe get moreinvolved, whether than be with your time
or financially, this can be anavenue for that. So I'm excited once
again. Jeff long is uh Man, You've got like a super long title
(00:46):
over there at the Boys and GirlsClubs at Springfield. What are you exactly,
Jeff? My title is Director ofSafety and Compliance. Maybe the reason
why it's been so long is becauseI've been there a long time. I've
been there for twenty years. Itjust kind of work my way, you
know. I used to run thegame room. I've been a program director,
a unit director. I was thedirector of operation. But now we
(01:07):
have seven locations and so my peer, her name is Sonny, and so
she oversees the director. She's kindof in charge of the people, where
I'm more in charge of the buildings, the vehicles. We run a federal
food program, so anything to dowith compliance and grants, I kind of
oversee that. So we're just onebig team those, yeah, for sure.
And I know that Sonny would loveto be here. She's out doing
(01:29):
something in the last week or so. And here we are getting into the
thick of the holiday season. Andone of our biggest things that we do
as a as a partnership between iHeartRadioand the Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield
is something called Angel Tree. Sotoday's show, we're going to talk a
little bit certainly about the Angel Treeprogram because this is always it's a lot
of fun for us, and Iknow goes a long way for the kids
(01:51):
in the Boys and Girls Clubs ofSpringfield. And then I just want to
talk about what the boys and Girlsclubs the Springfield does. I have,
you know, what I grew upwith and my knowledge, but I'm positive
number one, my memory is terrible, and number two, you guys do
a lot more than just host basketballgames for me as a kid. So
I'm excited to talk to you,Jeff, really excited for those of you
(02:12):
listening, because I want to jumpinto Angel Tree first. This is something
that we I'll be honest, wasn'tsure it was going to happen this year,
and then in this beautiful combination oflike skill sets, it was Sonny
and you and me and Jennifer Hemmerhere at iHeartRadio, who just in a
week's time made this program not onlyhappened, but I think this year happened
(02:38):
quicker more efficiently than it ever hasbefore. And hopefully that's to the benefit
of these kids. But enough braggingon you guys and your ability over there,
Jeff, what is the Angel Treeall about? It? It's an
awesome program. Again, like Isaid, I've been around for twenty years
and I know it's been going onthat long and probably even longer, and
so it's just an opportunity for citizensof the Springfield Greater area to help out
(03:02):
the kids at the Boys and GirlsClub. I mean, let's face it,
during the during the holiday time,during the Christmas time, isn't it
awesome to be able to bless others? And then it's also an awesome feeling
whenever someone thinks about you and youget a present. That's just that's just
the joy of the season. Andso a lot of the kids we serve,
they don't get to experience, youknow, the Christmas time like some
(03:24):
do. And so this is ourway of saying, hey, we see
you, we love you, wethink you're special, and you know,
the Boys and Girls of our wholemission is to enable all young people,
especially those who needs the most,to reach their full potential as productive,
caring and responsible citizens. And soI love that mission. And I've seen
(03:45):
over the twenty years I've been herein Springfield, I've seen kids and teenagers
grow up and now they are successfuladults, and a lot of them they
will remember coming to the Christmas partiesbecause on basically, if we don't have
this part of iHeart Radio, thenwe would really struggle to provide a gift
for each kid that comes to ourChristmas parties later in the month of December.
(04:08):
And so it's just a it's justan awesome way for the listeners of
the iHeart radio stations to you know, to help out someone else, to
help out a kid and and makethem feel special this holiday season. And
again, you know you mentioned howit all came together. We weren't sure,
but that that just shows the resiliency, the passion of the Ozarks.
(04:28):
I mean, I've lived in anotherplace with it, I mean the Ozarks
that's home. And so I meanit seems like we the community always rises
to the occasion and that's what welove. Yeah, we've got some special
listeners, no doubt about it.I've been here at iHeart for pretty close
to twenty years now, just likeyou've been at the Boys and Girls Club
for close to that and have seentime and time again the folks who enjoy
(04:49):
what we do and the folks thatwe have created friendships with over the years
and years and years. And Iknow that, you know, sometimes it
feels one sided because we do thetalking, then they do the listening.
But whenever given the opportunity, itseems like to step up and join with
us or for them to take thelead themselves to go out as listeners and
(05:09):
do something positive for our community.They do it tenfold more than we imagine.
So this year with Angel Tree,can you explain a little bit how
this program works, Jeff, becauseyou mentioned there's a Christmas party later,
but a lot of stuff has tohappen before that Christmas party. Yeah.
Yeah, well again this year andagain I know Clinton, You're a big
part of this. Is we partnerwith the local Dominoes in the whole area.
(05:31):
This is not just Springfold, butalso you know Ozark Wildered Republic,
and so whenever you're a customer ofDominoes, you can request an Angel.
I actually went on Monday because Ilived in Republic. I stopped in the
one in Republic and then manager waslike, oh, I've been waiting for
these, so she was excited.And I even saw a tree that was
it was a bear tree, butI have a feeling that that tree was
(05:53):
reserved for those angels. So obviously, if you're going through the drive through,
or if you're calling them, orif you actually go into the stores,
you know, ask about, hey, i'd like to sponsor a child
through the Angel Tree program. Andso you pick up an actual angel a
decoration ornament, and attached to itis a directions and on the directions it
says, please return the gift unwrappedto the Boys and Girls Club at fourteen
(06:17):
ten or Fremont Avenue by December sixth. That way, it gives us time
to see how we're doing and getthings organized for our party, which I
believe is on the fifteenth, andso so December sixth is the deadline to
try to do your best on that. And also there there is a some
labels attach this angel and that thekids that put down their top three wishes.
(06:41):
And again, if you're able tobuy those three grids, great,
if you're able to only do oneor two, then that's that's great.
To do whatever. You just dothe best you can do, and we
appreciate that. And then what isyou just you stick those labels on the
gifts so we kind of know whoit's four and then you, like you
said, you return it to theBoys and Girls. But again, so
Dominoes is for sure one of ourpartners helping with us this year. Yeah,
(07:04):
they're fantastic. And I talked tothe ownership group that is in charge,
and by group, I mean acouple dudes who live here in Springfield,
like they're just the most normal guysever. But they do have all
the Domino's locations, not only inSpringfield, but in those surrounding areas that
you mentioned. And it took Ithink it took all of twenty minutes for
(07:25):
them to go, yes, we'dlove to do it, let me make
sure we're allowed to do it.And then they turned around and we're like,
yeah, we're in. We're goingto make it happen. And so
you don't have to buy a pizzafrom Dominoes. I'm sure they love that.
But yeah, I know for alot of us, you know,
Friday Saturday rolls around and the ideaof not cooking sounds a lot more appealing
than actually cooking, And so weorder out from Dominoes quite a bit.
(07:46):
And yeah, you roll into thestore, they have the trees up.
Or even with delivery, that's anoption I never even thought of, but
in the additional notes section you canput with your deliveries. You can just
say can you put an angel withthis delivery too, and they'll bring it
to you. Or you can stopbuying and take it off the tree.
They're great. They're decorated by thekids at the Boys and Girls Club,
(08:09):
which is super cool to be ableto hang that up on your Christmas tree.
But yeah, it's so simple tolook at the wish list of gifts
and realize like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna be at Walmart or whatever
store Target in the next couple ofweeks or days, I can absolutely grab
a couple of these gifts. Andthen you don't even have to wrap the
gifts up afterwards. All you dois attach the label that's on that ornament,
(08:30):
which, by the way, thatcomes off, so you can leave
the ornament on your tree, butattach those labels and just like Jeff was
saying, bring it unwrapped, youdon't even have to mess with that to
the Boys and Girls Club there atFremont and Division, is that the one,
yeah, Freemont Division. Yeah,that's our Stonnacher unit. But that's
like we're our ministrative offices and sothat's kind of our foundation, our base.
Yeah. How's the traffic over there. They've finally done with that road
(08:50):
after nineteen years. Oh my gosh, it was such a blessing when that
was open. Yeah, we see. That's one thing is we have seven
locations. Three of them are actuallybuildings built to be boys and girls clubs,
and so we we actually have awe actually pick up from over thirty
schools, and so we have afleet of about fifteen vehicles, van shuttles,
(09:11):
buses, and so whenever you wheneverwe were whenever division was closed,
we were having the reroute, andI mean we made it happen, but
boy, we were relieving that wasopen back up. So yeah, ultimately,
the goal of Angel Trees to makesure kids, regardless of circumstance,
get the joy of opening up somegifts at Christmas time exactly, yes,
and not just things that were purchasedwithout them in mind, but things that
(09:35):
were bought with them specifically in mind. You've been you've been to these Christmas
parties before. When the final payoffhappens For all the people in the Osarn's
who have gotten together and said I'dlove to essentially adopt a kid's Christmas wish
list as as one of ours,what is that Christmas party like for those
kids? Oh, it's just incredible. And then of course we you know,
(09:58):
we have food, and there's there'swe sing songs and we we're we
have a really good connection with SantaClaus and we make sure pause is there
and just the we we take picturesof the kids with Santa Claus and then
they get their gift and just tosee the smaller faces and the joy and
some of them are are it's ahappy crist So it's just it's just awesome.
(10:20):
And even the parents, you know, they they appreciate it too,
because you know, it's it's it'sit's a tough rule out there, and
so the parents appreciate that we're tryingto help them out too. So yeah,
I know when we were talking withour friends at the Ozarks Food Harvest,
this is a couple of months ago, and they were talking about how
much food costs have risen and howbecause of inflation there were things and families
(10:43):
that had never needed their services beforethat we're now leaning on them to get
by. And I can't imagine that'sonly food related. Every time I go
to the store, it's more.And with Christmas approaching, I know,
for our family, like we've hadto look at it and be like a
we need to just chill out maybea little bit this year. But for
a lot of families, whereas weare fortunate to be able to say we
(11:07):
just need to chill out. Forsome families, there's choices there between doing
Christmas and not doing it. Andthis is a way for those in our
position who can afford to get someChristmas gifts help out kids right here in
Springfield. You guys are the Boysand Girls Clubs of Springfield. Make sure
that those kids have the Christmas thatyou know we remember having and having a
(11:30):
couple of gifts to open up andlike, whenever you provide a gift for
a kid in need, you're reallytouching their life and giving them that support.
Because again, we're about to celebrateour eighty fifth anniversary. Our official
birthday was November fourth birthday. Yeah, thank you, but yeah, on
November fourteenth, we're having an eightyfifth anniversary gala. And just to think
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that we've been in this community onfor eighty five years and there are many
boys and girls that were club membersthat receive a gift and now they're actually
givers of the club. So it'slike, you can't no one can can
control what situation you're born in,but that doesn't mean you can't be somebody.
I believe everybody is created on purpose. For purpose, and so it's
(12:15):
just a joy to see people thatwere club kids and now they're giving back
to Canadian once again. Just tojust to kind of recap here, we've
been talking with Jeff Long from theBoys and Girls Clubs to Springfield specifically these
first few minutes of iHeart theo's.Aren'ts here about the Angel Tree program which
is happening now through the sixth ofthe sixth, Yes, the sixth of
December. You could stop by anyarea Domino's location. They have trees up.
(12:41):
They have angels that represent children righthere at the Boys and Girls Clubs
of Springfield and a wish list attachedto those to make sure that they get
the gifts that they would love thisChristmas time, regardless of economic circumstance.
So you mentioned your eighty fifth birthday, Jeff, and I want to get
into exactly you know what the Boysand Girls Clubs the Springfield is all about,
because yes, this Angel Try programis great, absolutely seasonal though,
(13:05):
and you guys are active all yearlong helping kids for eighty five years in
this community. And I think Boysand Girls Clubs suffers from something that what's
the best way to put this,it's recognizable maybe ignorance. Right, it's
a oh, I know what theBoys and Girls Club is, and you
just kind of stop your learning therebecause you've heard of it a lot of
(13:26):
times and maybe you have had certainexperiences with one facet of what the Boys
and Girls Clubs does, but completelyall the services you all offer. I
don't think a lot of people willfully aware just how far reaching the Boys
and Girls Clubs the Springfield is.So I wanted to talk a little bit
about that, Like if you hadto elevator pitch me about what Boys and
Girls Clubs the Springfield does, Jeff, how would you do that? The
(13:52):
Boys and Girls through the Springfield weare a second family to kids. We're
both open after school, we're openwhenever school's out. We're open during the
summertime. We're basically we focus onthree areas academic success, so we're helping
kids with their homework, We're helpingkids with good character and citizenship. And
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then we have leadership clubs and thathave like adopted streets to clean up.
They go visit nursing homes, youknow, they do they do drives where
they collect items for like for youknow, like humane society things, like
that. So we're teaching kids togive back and then and then also healthy
lifestyles. Of course you mentioned youknow basketball, but yes we have.
We have an active basketball league,a baseball league. We even do flag
(14:35):
football. But again, you know, from from nineteen thirty eight to like
the early eighties, a lot ofpeople just thought of the Boys and Girls
of His like swim and gym,And yes, we have a pool and
we and we we teach kids howto swim, and yes we have basketball,
but we're so much more than swimand gym. And then, for
example, we have a job trainingprogram for our teenagers. It's called YEO
(14:56):
Youth Employment Opportunities, and right nowwe have close to ten teenagers and they've
kind of they had to apply andwe're and so it's kind of a select
group, but they're actually either workingat the Boys and Girls Club or working
in partnering businesses and they you know, they learn, they learn soft skills
as far as how to fill outan application, how to do a resume,
(15:18):
how to do an interview, andthey do get paid for this.
So it's a special grant we have. But that's really you know, the
Boys and Girls is awesome they gotto be is all the way from five
years old all the way up toeighteen years old. But so it's great
that we're a safe, positive placefor kids to come after school, but
then to be able to start workingwith these teenagers and giving them some skills
so that way whenever they do graduatethe Boys and Girls Club is we want
(15:41):
you to graduate with a plan forthe future. And so that's what we're
helping kids do. So we're sowe're so much more. We're not we're
not babysitters, we're not daycare.We're basically a partner with the family,
just trying to help these kids sayhey, we believe in you, we
want you you have we want youto be successful. We're just there to
support it. And we do havefun. I mean we at our clubs
(16:03):
we have pool tables and football andping pong them, and we have you
know, we do tournaments in thatand we have art rooms where kids can
learn how to paint and do workwith clay, things like that. What's
cool about a Boys and Girls Clubsis that there's something for everyone. So
if you like technology, you know, we have computers and laptops and we
do digital photography but if you likethe sports we have that they're just something
(16:26):
for everyone. We have guest speakersthat come in, we take the kids
on field trips. Again, we'rewe partner with Springfield Public Schools, so
we we're partnering with the families.We're partnering with the schools. But I
call it kind of a funcational andthat we we it's educational, but it's
fun. But it just it's justa support for the kids because I mean
(16:48):
also I feel like we we fillthe gaps. And then again, you
know, some people in this world, they're fortunate, and then if they
want their kids to do guitar lessons, we have that. They want their
kids to do ballet, they havethat. But a lot of kids though,
don't have that opportunity. But thatdoesn't mean they don't deserve that opportunity.
And so we actually we have agentleman, John Strickler. He's been
with us over twenty years and everyday of the week he goes to a
(17:10):
different club that teaches kids guitar lessons. My son is actually a been a
factor of that. My son playsguitar now because of lessons at the club
and everything, and so just guitarlessons, We've done tennis lessons during the
summer, we have. We workwith a lot of different partners as far
as introducing kids to opportunities because Ithink, again, we don't I mean,
(17:32):
Springs is a great town, butif we don't have boys and girls
clubs, it's just gonna go.This is I mean, I know it's
kind of cliches, but this isour future and like our town is gonna
go down, down, down,down down. You don't want that.
We need kids that. It doesn'tmatter what circumstances you're born into. Everybody,
everybody needs a little bit of everybodyneeds some support. Everybody needs somewhat
(17:52):
like a mentor to kind of helpthem figure out what do they enjoy doing
and kind of give them opportunities forthem to discover what they want to do.
I again, we also really aredoing well in this. We have
a mentoring program and that the mentorstheir background check or anything. They actually
come to our clubs and meet withthe youth at the club. So it's
always at the clubs. But thenevery now and then we'll do a special
(18:15):
field trip, you know, offsitewith the mentors and the mente So we're
always looking for more mentors. Andthat's that's like where a mentor works with
a group of children, and thenit also can be one on one as
long as you're within the supervision ofa staff member. But that's just again
again, it's just it's just Iwe call it bleeding blue. But I
mean I grew up in the Boysand Girls because my dad was a club
(18:37):
kid and he was a club professional. So besides teaching for three years,
this is what I've always done.I've actually, I've actually I started my
career in Boys and Girls was backin nineteen ninety two, so I've been
doing it for almost thirty years.And just yeah, that's incredible, man,
And what kind of and this isa really broad question to ask,
but when you talk about you know, these kids aren't the future. Sure,
(19:00):
this is the Boys and Girls Clubsare an investment into the future,
not just of these kids, butof our community as a whole. If
I'm summarizing you correctly, Yes,what effect have you seen in those decades
of working at the Boys and GirlsClub that this is having a positive effect
on our community as a whole.Well, I mean, you know,
for example, I know, Iknow of a of a of a person
(19:22):
who basically she was a club kidand I like, I used to be
a unit director at the Muscream unitand I ran the photography club because I
like photography as a hobby, andshe was in the photography club. Well,
now that is her business. She'sactually a photographer, and so she
now is like that's her business.So that's that's always cool to see to
see his progress in that and everything. And then just see every month
(19:45):
we recognize outstanding youth. It's calledyou th of the Month. And then
every year we have a Youth ofthe Year. And if you if you
finished in like the top three orfour, you actually can earn scholarships to
college. So we have several teensthat have gone on to college and done
well. For example, I knowof a I know the club member that
(20:06):
she attended here in Springfield and nowshe is actually a marketing director for the
Boys and Girls of up in SaintCharles, Wow, outside of Saint Louis.
So yeah, just awesome. SoI mean yeah, every I mean
just tons of s says, storiesand everything. So Jeff Long from the
Boys and Girls clubs to Springfield joiningus here on iHeart the Ozarks. My
name's Clint Gurley Vinks, President ofprogramming here for iHeartRadio in Springfield. How
(20:32):
many locations You mentioned this way earlieron in the program, but I'm just
trying to get a sense of howfar reaching the Boys and Girls Club the
Springfield are. Yes, we haveseven locations. Three are actually our own
buildings and then four are in theschools. And of the four school locations,
two of them we use the schoolspace and again we have a great
(20:55):
partnership with Springfield Public Schools. Andthen the other two they're in schools.
We have a unique model and thatwhenever, like the Sherwick Elementary was built
in twenty fifteen and whenever Williams Elementarywas built in twenty twenty one, when
they built these brand new schools,we actually built a boys and girls club
attached to the school. So thekids are in school all day and then
(21:15):
they walk down the hallway and bam, there's a boys and girls club.
So they walk in. There's likepool tables in a boys and girls club,
and there's art rooms and things likethat. But what's needed, so
we have our own space at theschool. But then again through our awesome
partnership for spring Put Public schools.We're able to use the school's gym,
we're able to use the school's cafeteria. It's a really great model. And
(21:36):
that the kids are already there,they just walk down the hallway. So
we have really great attendance, reallygood average day attendants. And it's just
a beautiful model because you know,school gets out of two thirty three,
three thirty, and most people haveto work at least until five, and
so we don't need kids out beinghome alone. We don't need kids out
(21:56):
running the streets, and so it'sjust a perfect model. But yeah,
we love all we love all ofour different types of boys and girls that
we have. How many kids arein the program? I mean you mentioned
ages what five to eighteen? Fivefive day eighteen. Basically we have about
twenty five hundred kids that are membersof the club in a year's time,
(22:17):
and then on top of that wehave about another thousand that we serve through
our sports program, so about thirtyfive hundred and all. So yeah,
that's a ton of kids. Yes, I asked this question always because whenever
we do these shows, it alot of times comes down to financial support.
How are the Boys and Girls clubsfunded funded? All right? We
(22:41):
apply for you know grants, Wealso just you know, individual donations,
also you know, corporate gifts.We're also you know, looking for I
might have mentioned this before, butjust like you know, different types of
grants out there. We do chargethe kids to come to the club,
so there's some buy in, butwe don't charge them what it really costs
(23:02):
us, because if we charge themwhat it really cost us, the kids
you need is the most wouldn't beable to afford it. So for example,
during the school year for the wholeschool year, it's one hundred and
fifteen dollars for the whole school year. Wow, where some programs are like
thirty dollars a week or something likethat. So one hundred fifteen dollars.
But again, we work with wework with our families, and then if
they're on PREE reduced lunch, wehave a special grant for that. And
(23:23):
then during the summertime it's like it'sI think it is like thirty it's like
about forty dollars a week during thesummertime. But again, I mean,
I know programs are like one hundreddollars a week, but again, we
do our best to make sure thatthe finances you're not getting the way because
the kids who needs the most,that's our We got to be court to
our missionary. Sure, it's nevertoo early as a parent and your parents
(23:47):
to start thinking what are we goingto do with the kids during the summer.
When does that process start? Foryou? Guys? Who who is
allowed to be at the boys andgirls clubs during the summer? Like what
any get a little overview of that? Yeah, during during this we start
summer registration in April. Our summerour program starts in June. It's usually
about ten to twelve weeks long,you know, June through August. But
(24:08):
honestly, it's for anybody. Itdoes fill up pretty quick though. I
mean, we're doing better, butI'll be honest with you, Clint COVID
When you know, we there wasa couple of months there during when COVID
first started, we weren't actually openevery day for the kids. However,
we've partnered with those our food harvestsand all and that we actually had drive
through meals we fed people, sowe still fed people. We still during
(24:30):
COVID we put together what's called athome kits where we actually sent home activities
for the kids to do the home, so we still had our presence there.
And so basically what I want towas about to say, though,
is that our staffing is getting better, but there for a while it was
hard to find staff. I mean, it's getting better now and everything.
But but again we do we dofill up quickly, but it's registration to
(24:52):
start through our website in April,and again we during the summertime especially,
we'll have kids from like the surroundingarea comes to the clubs because a lot
of our parents work in the Springfieldarea. So it doesn't have to be
just for Springfield kids. And youdon't have there's there's you do not have
to be like in a certain incomelevel. It's for any kid and everything.
So yeah, well that's awesome.What is that website that you mentioned.
(25:15):
I would imagine you can not onlyfind information about the summer programs we
were just talking about, but everythingyou guys do. Yes, BG Club
Springfield dot org. Okay, ClubClub Springfield dot Org. Awesome. We
have a couple of minutes left.I do want to hit here at the
end. We spent a lot oftime in the beginning of this talking about
it, but the Angel tree programis happening now through December the sixth.
(25:37):
You could stop by any Domino's locations, whether it's in Springfield or you know,
Willard Nixon, Ozark Battlefield, orwhere's the other one, oh Republic
where we live. Jeff, Iforgot about it. I forgot about us,
my bad. But they have thetree set up there and you can
stop by the beautiful new buildings they'vebeen building across the Ozarks too, So
(26:02):
a nice clean location to stop byand I get an angel off the tree
and then just make sure you havethose gifts back by the six We have
all of those locations on all ofour station websites. I'm sure you guys
have that posted as well. Andthen I know you guys at the Boys
and Girls clubs do a lot ofstuff on social media. It's fun following
what you do because it you knowwhere where some people like I have a
(26:23):
hard time putting like good things upthat we do. Every time I see
one that you guys do, I'mjust like, man, they know how
to do this right, They're they'rethey're doing so much good for our community.
What's the easiest way to follow youguys on social media. Yeah,
just you know on Facebook, youknow, just search for Boys and Girls
of the Springfield you know, we'reon Instagram, also on Twitter, So
(26:45):
yeah, those are the main three. I would say that follow us on
and awesome and just part of thepart of the Boys and Girls Club is
is uh you know, for example, like in February, you know,
Black History Month, there's also likeright now, it's like, you know,
Native American Month, and so wedo a good job of giving the
kids opportunities and exposure to the differentdiversity and things like that, and so
(27:06):
yeah, so yeah, it's awesometo celebrate. Jeff Long from the Boys
and Girls Clubs of Springfield, thankyou so much man for taking some time
out here. I know you guysare super busy, but we appreciate you
sharing what you guys do with usand then us being able to share it
with everybody else. So thanks forbeing a part of this well, thank
you very much for the opportunity andthank you for the awesome partnership for myself,
(27:26):
Clint Gurley, thank you, bythe way for listening to today's iHeart
the Ozarks. If you picked itup halfway through or something you want to
hear the whole thing, or likethe show and want to go back and
listen to previous episodes. With othergroups and community efforts across the Ozarks,
I feel free. We are availablewhenever you're ready for us. On our
iHeartRadio app. Just search iHeart theOzarks. You can find this episode,
(27:48):
as well as past episodes. Thereagain, for myself, Clint Gurley,
and the rest of our staff hereat iHeart Radio and Springfield, thank you
for listening. Have a great restof your day.
Well, hello and welcome to ashow that we call iHeart the Ozarks.
(00:03):
My name's Clint Gurley. I'm realizingnow my vocals very hot. I'm going
to turn those down a little bit. You need it, but you don't
need to blasted in your face.Glad you're here. This is a thirty
minute show that airs across all fiveof our iHeartRadio stations here in Springfield,
and it focuses on community groups orefforts, sometimes just a collection of people
getting together. But the one thingthey all have in common is that they've
(00:23):
all come together is do a bunchof good for our community. So this
show iHeart the Ozarks is our opportunityto not only celebrate that, but also
share what's happening in the hopes thatmaybe if it strikes something inside you and
makes you want to maybe get moreinvolved, whether than be with your time
or financially, this can be anavenue for that. So I'm excited once
again. Jeff long is uh Man, You've got like a super long title
(00:46):
over there at the Boys and GirlsClubs at Springfield. What are you exactly,
Jeff? My title is Director ofSafety and Compliance. Maybe the reason
why it's been so long is becauseI've been there a long time. I've
been there for twenty years. Itjust kind of work my way, you
know. I used to run thegame room. I've been a program director,
a unit director. I was thedirector of operation. But now we
(01:07):
have seven locations and so my peer, her name is Sonny, and so
she oversees the director. She's kindof in charge of the people, where
I'm more in charge of the buildings, the vehicles. We run a federal
food program, so anything to dowith compliance and grants, I kind of
oversee that. So we're just onebig team those, yeah, for sure.
And I know that Sonny would loveto be here. She's out doing
(01:29):
something in the last week or so. And here we are getting into the
thick of the holiday season. Andone of our biggest things that we do
as a as a partnership between iHeartRadioand the Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield
is something called Angel Tree. Sotoday's show, we're going to talk a
little bit certainly about the Angel Treeprogram because this is always it's a lot
of fun for us, and Iknow goes a long way for the kids
(01:51):
in the Boys and Girls Clubs ofSpringfield. And then I just want to
talk about what the boys and Girlsclubs the Springfield does. I have,
you know, what I grew upwith and my knowledge, but I'm positive
number one, my memory is terrible, and number two, you guys do
a lot more than just host basketballgames for me as a kid. So
I'm excited to talk to you,Jeff, really excited for those of you
(02:12):
listening, because I want to jumpinto Angel Tree first. This is something
that we I'll be honest, wasn'tsure it was going to happen this year,
and then in this beautiful combination oflike skill sets, it was Sonny
and you and me and Jennifer Hemmerhere at iHeartRadio, who just in a
week's time made this program not onlyhappened, but I think this year happened
(02:38):
quicker more efficiently than it ever hasbefore. And hopefully that's to the benefit
of these kids. But enough braggingon you guys and your ability over there,
Jeff, what is the Angel Treeall about? It? It's an
awesome program. Again, like Isaid, I've been around for twenty years
and I know it's been going onthat long and probably even longer, and
so it's just an opportunity for citizensof the Springfield Greater area to help out
(03:02):
the kids at the Boys and GirlsClub. I mean, let's face it,
during the during the holiday time,during the Christmas time, isn't it
awesome to be able to bless others? And then it's also an awesome feeling
whenever someone thinks about you and youget a present. That's just that's just
the joy of the season. Andso a lot of the kids we serve,
they don't get to experience, youknow, the Christmas time like some
(03:24):
do. And so this is ourway of saying, hey, we see
you, we love you, wethink you're special, and you know,
the Boys and Girls of our wholemission is to enable all young people,
especially those who needs the most,to reach their full potential as productive,
caring and responsible citizens. And soI love that mission. And I've seen
(03:45):
over the twenty years I've been herein Springfield, I've seen kids and teenagers
grow up and now they are successfuladults, and a lot of them they
will remember coming to the Christmas partiesbecause on basically, if we don't have
this part of iHeart Radio, thenwe would really struggle to provide a gift
for each kid that comes to ourChristmas parties later in the month of December.
(04:08):
And so it's just a it's justan awesome way for the listeners of
the iHeart radio stations to you know, to help out someone else, to
help out a kid and and makethem feel special this holiday season. And
again, you know you mentioned howit all came together. We weren't sure,
but that that just shows the resiliency, the passion of the Ozarks.
(04:28):
I mean, I've lived in anotherplace with it, I mean the Ozarks
that's home. And so I meanit seems like we the community always rises
to the occasion and that's what welove. Yeah, we've got some special
listeners, no doubt about it.I've been here at iHeart for pretty close
to twenty years now, just likeyou've been at the Boys and Girls Club
for close to that and have seentime and time again the folks who enjoy
(04:49):
what we do and the folks thatwe have created friendships with over the years
and years and years. And Iknow that, you know, sometimes it
feels one sided because we do thetalking, then they do the listening.
But whenever given the opportunity, itseems like to step up and join with
us or for them to take thelead themselves to go out as listeners and
(05:09):
do something positive for our community.They do it tenfold more than we imagine.
So this year with Angel Tree,can you explain a little bit how
this program works, Jeff, becauseyou mentioned there's a Christmas party later,
but a lot of stuff has tohappen before that Christmas party. Yeah.
Yeah, well again this year andagain I know Clinton, You're a big
part of this. Is we partnerwith the local Dominoes in the whole area.
(05:31):
This is not just Springfold, butalso you know Ozark Wildered Republic,
and so whenever you're a customer ofDominoes, you can request an Angel.
I actually went on Monday because Ilived in Republic. I stopped in the
one in Republic and then manager waslike, oh, I've been waiting for
these, so she was excited.And I even saw a tree that was
it was a bear tree, butI have a feeling that that tree was
(05:53):
reserved for those angels. So obviously, if you're going through the drive through,
or if you're calling them, orif you actually go into the stores,
you know, ask about, hey, i'd like to sponsor a child
through the Angel Tree program. Andso you pick up an actual angel a
decoration ornament, and attached to itis a directions and on the directions it
says, please return the gift unwrappedto the Boys and Girls Club at fourteen
(06:17):
ten or Fremont Avenue by December sixth. That way, it gives us time
to see how we're doing and getthings organized for our party, which I
believe is on the fifteenth, andso so December sixth is the deadline to
try to do your best on that. And also there there is a some
labels attach this angel and that thekids that put down their top three wishes.
(06:41):
And again, if you're able tobuy those three grids, great,
if you're able to only do oneor two, then that's that's great.
To do whatever. You just dothe best you can do, and we
appreciate that. And then what isyou just you stick those labels on the
gifts so we kind of know whoit's four and then you, like you
said, you return it to theBoys and Girls. But again, so
Dominoes is for sure one of ourpartners helping with us this year. Yeah,
(07:04):
they're fantastic. And I talked tothe ownership group that is in charge,
and by group, I mean acouple dudes who live here in Springfield,
like they're just the most normal guysever. But they do have all
the Domino's locations, not only inSpringfield, but in those surrounding areas that
you mentioned. And it took Ithink it took all of twenty minutes for
(07:25):
them to go, yes, we'dlove to do it, let me make
sure we're allowed to do it.And then they turned around and we're like,
yeah, we're in. We're goingto make it happen. And so
you don't have to buy a pizzafrom Dominoes. I'm sure they love that.
But yeah, I know for alot of us, you know,
Friday Saturday rolls around and the ideaof not cooking sounds a lot more appealing
than actually cooking, And so weorder out from Dominoes quite a bit.
(07:46):
And yeah, you roll into thestore, they have the trees up.
Or even with delivery, that's anoption I never even thought of, but
in the additional notes section you canput with your deliveries. You can just
say can you put an angel withthis delivery too, and they'll bring it
to you. Or you can stopbuying and take it off the tree.
They're great. They're decorated by thekids at the Boys and Girls Club,
(08:09):
which is super cool to be ableto hang that up on your Christmas tree.
But yeah, it's so simple tolook at the wish list of gifts
and realize like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna be at Walmart or whatever
store Target in the next couple ofweeks or days, I can absolutely grab
a couple of these gifts. Andthen you don't even have to wrap the
gifts up afterwards. All you dois attach the label that's on that ornament,
(08:30):
which, by the way, thatcomes off, so you can leave
the ornament on your tree, butattach those labels and just like Jeff was
saying, bring it unwrapped, youdon't even have to mess with that to
the Boys and Girls Club there atFremont and Division, is that the one,
yeah, Freemont Division. Yeah,that's our Stonnacher unit. But that's
like we're our ministrative offices and sothat's kind of our foundation, our base.
Yeah. How's the traffic over there. They've finally done with that road
(08:50):
after nineteen years. Oh my gosh, it was such a blessing when that
was open. Yeah, we see. That's one thing is we have seven
locations. Three of them are actuallybuildings built to be boys and girls clubs,
and so we we actually have awe actually pick up from over thirty
schools, and so we have afleet of about fifteen vehicles, van shuttles,
(09:11):
buses, and so whenever you wheneverwe were whenever division was closed,
we were having the reroute, andI mean we made it happen, but
boy, we were relieving that wasopen back up. So yeah, ultimately,
the goal of Angel Trees to makesure kids, regardless of circumstance,
get the joy of opening up somegifts at Christmas time exactly, yes,
and not just things that were purchasedwithout them in mind, but things that
(09:35):
were bought with them specifically in mind. You've been you've been to these Christmas
parties before. When the final payoffhappens For all the people in the Osarn's
who have gotten together and said I'dlove to essentially adopt a kid's Christmas wish
list as as one of ours,what is that Christmas party like for those
kids? Oh, it's just incredible. And then of course we you know,
(09:58):
we have food, and there's there'swe sing songs and we we're we
have a really good connection with SantaClaus and we make sure pause is there
and just the we we take picturesof the kids with Santa Claus and then
they get their gift and just tosee the smaller faces and the joy and
some of them are are it's ahappy crist So it's just it's just awesome.
(10:20):
And even the parents, you know, they they appreciate it too,
because you know, it's it's it'sit's a tough rule out there, and
so the parents appreciate that we're tryingto help them out too. So yeah,
I know when we were talking withour friends at the Ozarks Food Harvest,
this is a couple of months ago, and they were talking about how
much food costs have risen and howbecause of inflation there were things and families
(10:43):
that had never needed their services beforethat we're now leaning on them to get
by. And I can't imagine that'sonly food related. Every time I go
to the store, it's more.And with Christmas approaching, I know,
for our family, like we've hadto look at it and be like a
we need to just chill out maybea little bit this year. But for
a lot of families, whereas weare fortunate to be able to say we
(11:07):
just need to chill out. Forsome families, there's choices there between doing
Christmas and not doing it. Andthis is a way for those in our
position who can afford to get someChristmas gifts help out kids right here in
Springfield. You guys are the Boysand Girls Clubs of Springfield. Make sure
that those kids have the Christmas thatyou know we remember having and having a
(11:30):
couple of gifts to open up andlike, whenever you provide a gift for
a kid in need, you're reallytouching their life and giving them that support.
Because again, we're about to celebrateour eighty fifth anniversary. Our official
birthday was November fourth birthday. Yeah, thank you, but yeah, on
November fourteenth, we're having an eightyfifth anniversary gala. And just to think
(11:54):
that we've been in this community onfor eighty five years and there are many
boys and girls that were club membersthat receive a gift and now they're actually
givers of the club. So it'slike, you can't no one can can
control what situation you're born in,but that doesn't mean you can't be somebody.
I believe everybody is created on purpose. For purpose, and so it's
(12:15):
just a joy to see people thatwere club kids and now they're giving back
to Canadian once again. Just tojust to kind of recap here, we've
been talking with Jeff Long from theBoys and Girls Clubs to Springfield specifically these
first few minutes of iHeart theo's.Aren'ts here about the Angel Tree program which
is happening now through the sixth ofthe sixth, Yes, the sixth of
December. You could stop by anyarea Domino's location. They have trees up.
(12:41):
They have angels that represent children righthere at the Boys and Girls Clubs
of Springfield and a wish list attachedto those to make sure that they get
the gifts that they would love thisChristmas time, regardless of economic circumstance.
So you mentioned your eighty fifth birthday, Jeff, and I want to get
into exactly you know what the Boysand Girls Clubs the Springfield is all about,
because yes, this Angel Try programis great, absolutely seasonal though,
(13:05):
and you guys are active all yearlong helping kids for eighty five years in
this community. And I think Boysand Girls Clubs suffers from something that what's
the best way to put this,it's recognizable maybe ignorance. Right, it's
a oh, I know what theBoys and Girls Club is, and you
just kind of stop your learning therebecause you've heard of it a lot of
(13:26):
times and maybe you have had certainexperiences with one facet of what the Boys
and Girls Clubs does, but completelyall the services you all offer. I
don't think a lot of people willfully aware just how far reaching the Boys
and Girls Clubs the Springfield is.So I wanted to talk a little bit
about that, Like if you hadto elevator pitch me about what Boys and
Girls Clubs the Springfield does, Jeff, how would you do that? The
(13:52):
Boys and Girls through the Springfield weare a second family to kids. We're
both open after school, we're openwhenever school's out. We're open during the
summertime. We're basically we focus onthree areas academic success, so we're helping
kids with their homework, We're helpingkids with good character and citizenship. And
(14:13):
then we have leadership clubs and thathave like adopted streets to clean up.
They go visit nursing homes, youknow, they do they do drives where
they collect items for like for youknow, like humane society things, like
that. So we're teaching kids togive back and then and then also healthy
lifestyles. Of course you mentioned youknow basketball, but yes we have.
We have an active basketball league,a baseball league. We even do flag
(14:35):
football. But again, you know, from from nineteen thirty eight to like
the early eighties, a lot ofpeople just thought of the Boys and Girls
of His like swim and gym,And yes, we have a pool and
we and we we teach kids howto swim, and yes we have basketball,
but we're so much more than swimand gym. And then, for
example, we have a job trainingprogram for our teenagers. It's called YEO
(14:56):
Youth Employment Opportunities, and right nowwe have close to ten teenagers and they've
kind of they had to apply andwe're and so it's kind of a select
group, but they're actually either workingat the Boys and Girls Club or working
in partnering businesses and they you know, they learn, they learn soft skills
as far as how to fill outan application, how to do a resume,
(15:18):
how to do an interview, andthey do get paid for this.
So it's a special grant we have. But that's really you know, the
Boys and Girls is awesome they gotto be is all the way from five
years old all the way up toeighteen years old. But so it's great
that we're a safe, positive placefor kids to come after school, but
then to be able to start workingwith these teenagers and giving them some skills
so that way whenever they do graduatethe Boys and Girls Club is we want
(15:41):
you to graduate with a plan forthe future. And so that's what we're
helping kids do. So we're sowe're so much more. We're not we're
not babysitters, we're not daycare.We're basically a partner with the family,
just trying to help these kids sayhey, we believe in you, we
want you you have we want youto be successful. We're just there to
support it. And we do havefun. I mean we at our clubs
(16:03):
we have pool tables and football andping pong them, and we have you
know, we do tournaments in thatand we have art rooms where kids can
learn how to paint and do workwith clay, things like that. What's
cool about a Boys and Girls Clubsis that there's something for everyone. So
if you like technology, you know, we have computers and laptops and we
do digital photography but if you likethe sports we have that they're just something
(16:26):
for everyone. We have guest speakersthat come in, we take the kids
on field trips. Again, we'rewe partner with Springfield Public Schools, so
we we're partnering with the families.We're partnering with the schools. But I
call it kind of a funcational andthat we we it's educational, but it's
fun. But it just it's justa support for the kids because I mean
(16:48):
also I feel like we we fillthe gaps. And then again, you
know, some people in this world, they're fortunate, and then if they
want their kids to do guitar lessons, we have that. They want their
kids to do ballet, they havethat. But a lot of kids though,
don't have that opportunity. But thatdoesn't mean they don't deserve that opportunity.
And so we actually we have agentleman, John Strickler. He's been
with us over twenty years and everyday of the week he goes to a
(17:10):
different club that teaches kids guitar lessons. My son is actually a been a
factor of that. My son playsguitar now because of lessons at the club
and everything, and so just guitarlessons, We've done tennis lessons during the
summer, we have. We workwith a lot of different partners as far
as introducing kids to opportunities because Ithink, again, we don't I mean,
(17:32):
Springs is a great town, butif we don't have boys and girls
clubs, it's just gonna go.This is I mean, I know it's
kind of cliches, but this isour future and like our town is gonna
go down, down, down,down down. You don't want that.
We need kids that. It doesn'tmatter what circumstances you're born into. Everybody,
everybody needs a little bit of everybodyneeds some support. Everybody needs somewhat
(17:52):
like a mentor to kind of helpthem figure out what do they enjoy doing
and kind of give them opportunities forthem to discover what they want to do.
I again, we also really aredoing well in this. We have
a mentoring program and that the mentorstheir background check or anything. They actually
come to our clubs and meet withthe youth at the club. So it's
always at the clubs. But thenevery now and then we'll do a special
(18:15):
field trip, you know, offsitewith the mentors and the mente So we're
always looking for more mentors. Andthat's that's like where a mentor works with
a group of children, and thenit also can be one on one as
long as you're within the supervision ofa staff member. But that's just again
again, it's just it's just Iwe call it bleeding blue. But I
mean I grew up in the Boysand Girls because my dad was a club
(18:37):
kid and he was a club professional. So besides teaching for three years,
this is what I've always done.I've actually, I've actually I started my
career in Boys and Girls was backin nineteen ninety two, so I've been
doing it for almost thirty years.And just yeah, that's incredible, man,
And what kind of and this isa really broad question to ask,
but when you talk about you know, these kids aren't the future. Sure,
(19:00):
this is the Boys and Girls Clubsare an investment into the future,
not just of these kids, butof our community as a whole. If
I'm summarizing you correctly, Yes,what effect have you seen in those decades
of working at the Boys and GirlsClub that this is having a positive effect
on our community as a whole.Well, I mean, you know,
for example, I know, Iknow of a of a of a person
(19:22):
who basically she was a club kidand I like, I used to be
a unit director at the Muscream unitand I ran the photography club because I
like photography as a hobby, andshe was in the photography club. Well,
now that is her business. She'sactually a photographer, and so she
now is like that's her business.So that's that's always cool to see to
see his progress in that and everything. And then just see every month
(19:45):
we recognize outstanding youth. It's calledyou th of the Month. And then
every year we have a Youth ofthe Year. And if you if you
finished in like the top three orfour, you actually can earn scholarships to
college. So we have several teensthat have gone on to college and done
well. For example, I knowof a I know the club member that
(20:06):
she attended here in Springfield and nowshe is actually a marketing director for the
Boys and Girls of up in SaintCharles, Wow, outside of Saint Louis.
So yeah, just awesome. SoI mean yeah, every I mean
just tons of s says, storiesand everything. So Jeff Long from the
Boys and Girls clubs to Springfield joiningus here on iHeart the Ozarks. My
name's Clint Gurley Vinks, President ofprogramming here for iHeartRadio in Springfield. How
(20:32):
many locations You mentioned this way earlieron in the program, but I'm just
trying to get a sense of howfar reaching the Boys and Girls Club the
Springfield are. Yes, we haveseven locations. Three are actually our own
buildings and then four are in theschools. And of the four school locations,
two of them we use the schoolspace and again we have a great
(20:55):
partnership with Springfield Public Schools. Andthen the other two they're in schools.
We have a unique model and thatwhenever, like the Sherwick Elementary was built
in twenty fifteen and whenever Williams Elementarywas built in twenty twenty one, when
they built these brand new schools,we actually built a boys and girls club
attached to the school. So thekids are in school all day and then
(21:15):
they walk down the hallway and bam, there's a boys and girls club.
So they walk in. There's likepool tables in a boys and girls club,
and there's art rooms and things likethat. But what's needed, so
we have our own space at theschool. But then again through our awesome
partnership for spring Put Public schools.We're able to use the school's gym,
we're able to use the school's cafeteria. It's a really great model. And
(21:36):
that the kids are already there,they just walk down the hallway. So
we have really great attendance, reallygood average day attendants. And it's just
a beautiful model because you know,school gets out of two thirty three,
three thirty, and most people haveto work at least until five, and
so we don't need kids out beinghome alone. We don't need kids out
(21:56):
running the streets, and so it'sjust a perfect model. But yeah,
we love all we love all ofour different types of boys and girls that
we have. How many kids arein the program? I mean you mentioned
ages what five to eighteen? Fivefive day eighteen. Basically we have about
twenty five hundred kids that are membersof the club in a year's time,
(22:17):
and then on top of that wehave about another thousand that we serve through
our sports program, so about thirtyfive hundred and all. So yeah,
that's a ton of kids. Yes, I asked this question always because whenever
we do these shows, it alot of times comes down to financial support.
How are the Boys and Girls clubsfunded funded? All right? We
(22:41):
apply for you know grants, Wealso just you know, individual donations,
also you know, corporate gifts.We're also you know, looking for I
might have mentioned this before, butjust like you know, different types of
grants out there. We do chargethe kids to come to the club,
so there's some buy in, butwe don't charge them what it really costs
(23:02):
us, because if we charge themwhat it really cost us, the kids
you need is the most wouldn't beable to afford it. So for example,
during the school year for the wholeschool year, it's one hundred and
fifteen dollars for the whole school year. Wow, where some programs are like
thirty dollars a week or something likethat. So one hundred fifteen dollars.
But again, we work with wework with our families, and then if
they're on PREE reduced lunch, wehave a special grant for that. And
(23:23):
then during the summertime it's like it'sI think it is like thirty it's like
about forty dollars a week during thesummertime. But again, I mean,
I know programs are like one hundreddollars a week, but again, we
do our best to make sure thatthe finances you're not getting the way because
the kids who needs the most,that's our We got to be court to
our missionary. Sure, it's nevertoo early as a parent and your parents
(23:47):
to start thinking what are we goingto do with the kids during the summer.
When does that process start? Foryou? Guys? Who who is
allowed to be at the boys andgirls clubs during the summer? Like what
any get a little overview of that? Yeah, during during this we start
summer registration in April. Our summerour program starts in June. It's usually
about ten to twelve weeks long,you know, June through August. But
(24:08):
honestly, it's for anybody. Itdoes fill up pretty quick though. I
mean, we're doing better, butI'll be honest with you, Clint COVID
When you know, we there wasa couple of months there during when COVID
first started, we weren't actually openevery day for the kids. However,
we've partnered with those our food harvestsand all and that we actually had drive
through meals we fed people, sowe still fed people. We still during
(24:30):
COVID we put together what's called athome kits where we actually sent home activities
for the kids to do the home, so we still had our presence there.
And so basically what I want towas about to say, though,
is that our staffing is getting better, but there for a while it was
hard to find staff. I mean, it's getting better now and everything.
But but again we do we dofill up quickly, but it's registration to
(24:52):
start through our website in April,and again we during the summertime especially,
we'll have kids from like the surroundingarea comes to the clubs because a lot
of our parents work in the Springfieldarea. So it doesn't have to be
just for Springfield kids. And youdon't have there's there's you do not have
to be like in a certain incomelevel. It's for any kid and everything.
So yeah, well that's awesome.What is that website that you mentioned.
(25:15):
I would imagine you can not onlyfind information about the summer programs we
were just talking about, but everythingyou guys do. Yes, BG Club
Springfield dot org. Okay, ClubClub Springfield dot Org. Awesome. We
have a couple of minutes left.I do want to hit here at the
end. We spent a lot oftime in the beginning of this talking about
it, but the Angel tree programis happening now through December the sixth.
(25:37):
You could stop by any Domino's locations, whether it's in Springfield or you know,
Willard Nixon, Ozark Battlefield, orwhere's the other one, oh Republic
where we live. Jeff, Iforgot about it. I forgot about us,
my bad. But they have thetree set up there and you can
stop by the beautiful new buildings they'vebeen building across the Ozarks too, So
(26:02):
a nice clean location to stop byand I get an angel off the tree
and then just make sure you havethose gifts back by the six We have
all of those locations on all ofour station websites. I'm sure you guys
have that posted as well. Andthen I know you guys at the Boys
and Girls clubs do a lot ofstuff on social media. It's fun following
what you do because it you knowwhere where some people like I have a
(26:23):
hard time putting like good things upthat we do. Every time I see
one that you guys do, I'mjust like, man, they know how
to do this right, They're they'rethey're doing so much good for our community.
What's the easiest way to follow youguys on social media. Yeah,
just you know on Facebook, youknow, just search for Boys and Girls
of the Springfield you know, we'reon Instagram, also on Twitter, So
(26:45):
yeah, those are the main three. I would say that follow us on
and awesome and just part of thepart of the Boys and Girls Club is
is uh you know, for example, like in February, you know,
Black History Month, there's also likeright now, it's like, you know,
Native American Month, and so wedo a good job of giving the
kids opportunities and exposure to the differentdiversity and things like that, and so
(27:06):
yeah, so yeah, it's awesometo celebrate. Jeff Long from the Boys
and Girls Clubs of Springfield, thankyou so much man for taking some time
out here. I know you guysare super busy, but we appreciate you
sharing what you guys do with usand then us being able to share it
with everybody else. So thanks forbeing a part of this well, thank
you very much for the opportunity andthank you for the awesome partnership for myself,
(27:26):
Clint Gurley, thank you, bythe way for listening to today's iHeart
the Ozarks. If you picked itup halfway through or something you want to
hear the whole thing, or likethe show and want to go back and
listen to previous episodes. With othergroups and community efforts across the Ozarks,
I feel free. We are availablewhenever you're ready for us. On our
iHeartRadio app. Just search iHeart theOzarks. You can find this episode,
(27:48):
as well as past episodes. Thereagain, for myself, Clint Gurley,
and the rest of our staff hereat iHeart Radio and Springfield, thank you
for listening. Have a great restof your day.
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