Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh holds open house

OSHKOSH, WI – (WISS) – The Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh is celebrating the completion of an expansion project to include the New Hyde Family Community Center, administrative offices, and the teen center with an open house and grand opening Sunday, May 5th from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Tracy Ogden, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh says this is a part of a much larger project. 

“Our construction project was a five-phase, $18.5 million dollar project,” said Ogden. “We have renovated 30 thousand square feet of our existing building, and we’ve added a 30 thousand square foot addition.”

Ogden said that project has transformed the entire block where the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh sits. 

“We took down 13 houses!” said Ogden. “We added in a new multipurpose field, which is a turf field for our kids. We added in new parking. We added in a new garage.”

More to come

Ogden says that the project still has another  phase to go!

“The last phase of the project, which hasn’t even started yet, is we’ll be adding in an additional gym and a new playground for the kids. And that will start this summer.” 

Part of that last phase will be additional fundraising. Ogden says they are very close to the finish line.

“We are not a federally funded program. We are not a city funded program. We are funded by the generosity of our partners,” said Ogden. “We need to finish the campaign to get through the gym. We are just under a million dollars short. So we are looking for support to help us finish that.”

To donate to the capital campaign or for general donations please visit: https://bgcosh.org/support/donate/.

About the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh

According to Ogden, the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh is different from many other Boys and Girls Clubs in the breadth of services it provides for kids and families.

“One of the things that makes our club unique is that we serve all basic needs for our kids and families. Our kids shower here. We send food home. We make sure that they have their rent paid…We do eyeglasses, clothing, shoes. We get 1100 kids ready for back to school with haircuts and all the school supplies they need. We get them ready for winter with hats, mittens, boots, coats, and snowpants.  We do all of these things for kids. And what we really wanted to do with the addition of the community center is provide an opportunity to support the family as a whole.”

With the new additions the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh is becoming a hub for multiple organizations to work together and serve the community in a holistic way. 

“There is a lot of agencies that are very talented and have great things happening. And we could have a really powerful reach if we worked better together to share that message,” said Ogden.

By the numbers

Here are some facts about the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh:

• 3000: the number of kids served by the club overall
• 1800: The number of families served by the club
• 700: the number of children served every day.
• 300: the number of kids served per day during the summer.
• 54: the number of years in operation
• 14: after school locations including Omro

The Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh is at the corner of Parkway and Broad Streets in Oshkosh at 501 E. Parkway Ave.