Sanctuary is another term for a safe haven.

That's what a group of Barnwell County residents want to establish in the county for its youth.

"A lot of times, children have nothing to do once they are out of school," said James Wallace, the board chairman for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Carolina.

A local Boys and Girls Club would provide a sanctuary where youth could be involved in constructive activities or get help with schoolwork. Also it would keep children off the streets where they run the risk of getting into trouble, he said.

With that in mind, members of the Big Seven Association, Greater Faith Ministries, First Baptist Church of Barnwell and other concerned residents are working to found a Boys and Girls Club in the area.

"We have a lot of energy and time involved in this. We have worked on this over two years," Wallace said.

Already a board of directors is being formed for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Carolina, which will be this region's chapter - and the newest one - of this national organization.

The group is having an informational meeting June 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Barnwell library to answer questions about the Boys and Girls Club they are forming.

Wallace said they have set a target date of September to launch the club.

Already the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Carolina has its nonprofit, tax-free 501c(3) status from the state, which it obtained Feb. 18. It will get its charter from the organization once the regional club opens, he said.

"We are going to need lots of volunteers," Wallace said. "It's an opportunity for the community to come together."

Wallace hopes that business and community leaders will attend the meeting as well as residents and provide support for it, he said.

Already the club has gotten official support from the county when Barnwell County Council voted during its June 2 meeting to give $10,000 to the group, Wallace said.

The county money is the interest off the unexpended funds left from the Atlantic Compact money, said Keith Sloan, a Barnwell County Councilman.

Compact money are funds given to the county from disposal fees from the Chem-Nuclear low-level nuclear wastes levied on the Compact states of South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Carolina needs to raise about $150,000 to start the club for its first year, Wallace said.
"We are looking at an average of about $150,000 each year. It could fluctuate," he said.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of America started nationally as the Boys Club after several local clubs in the Boston, Mass. area banded together. In 1990, the organization changed its name to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America since girls had been a part of the organization's outreach.

Nationally, the clubs offer programs to youth about character and leadership, health and life skills, education and careers, sports, recreation and the arts.

Wallace said he didn't want to speculate on what specific programs the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Carolina will offer, although it will have a program director.

The club's board of directors will hire a chief professional officer, which is like an executive director, in the near future, he said.

The board now has 18 members from people around Barnwell County, although there is room for more board members, Wallace said.

Once established, the hope is that the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Carolina will become a regional club that will spawn other clubs in Barnwell and Bamberg counties as well, said Fred Geier, a board member.

Geier is the director of the Barnwell County United Way.

"The reason it is clubs plural is that eventually they hope to serve Williston, Bamberg County and Blackville," Geier said. "Each Boys and Girls Club organization can have multiple clubs. You can have a club for elementary school kids and a club for middle school kids."

"Right now we are just getting people out of the county (Barnwell)," said Wallace. "We are going to try and be regional and we are going to try to get people from Bamberg County."

The club has already formed a partnership with the Barnwell 45 school district which will provide space for the children to meet, Wallace said.

Aiken and Orangeburg have their own Boys and Girls Club chapters as does Allendale County, Wallace said.

However, expanding to the Barnwell County area would have been too far for the Aiken and Orangeburg chapters and the Allendale group is focused more on expanding southward, he said.

"We had to prove we could start this club and make it work," Wallace said of the group seeking its own charter.