Clubs given new computer labs: Foundation funds rebuilding

More than 3,000 children from the Boys and Girls Club of the Gulf Coast and the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson and George Counties have 30 new computers and several technology centers, thanks to the generosity of the New York Life Foundation.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday marked the celebration of the opening of the Boys and Girls Club's New York Life Tech Center computer labs in East Biloxi and Jackson and George counties.

The Boys and Girls Club site in D'Iberville will hold a special ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new computer lab next week.

The New York Life Foundation grant is being used to rebuild a total of eight Boys and Girls Clubs of America computer facilities in South Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"The children are so excited to have these computers to do homework on and to learn the basics of how they work," said Tayonka Thomas of the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson and George Counties.

"The Boys and Girls Club has special computer programs available to teach these children the dangers of the Internet as well as how to improve their skills at all levels," she said.

The grant has supplied the sites with new computer software, hardware installation, educational programming and support technology services.

New York Life Foundation representatives say their goal in establishing the grant was to return the technological services at all the clubs to their pre-hurricane level.

"The children today used their new computers to write thank-you letters to the New York Life Foundation," said Thomas.

"The 20 computers we have now are much better than the computers we had before, which were about seven years old. Every child is so excited to try them out," she said.

The Boys and Girls Clubs currently serve more than 4.6 million young people ages 6 through 18 in all 50 states across the country. For more information about the Boys and Girls Clubs of America visit bgca.org.