THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 23, 1996 TAG: 9609230038
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: United Way of South Hampton Roads
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 69 lines
Walt Disney has always been about making magic.
And on Sunday, 10-year-old Yolanda Bond will be touched by the Disney wand. She'll leave her Berkley neighborhood with 23 other South Hampton Roads youngsters picked to fly to Orlando, all expenses paid, to help celebrate the famous Florida park's 25th anniversary.
Half, including Yolanda, are members of Berkley's Southside Boys and Girls Club. The other dozen hail from the four Norfolk clubs and one in Virginia Beach that comprise the coalition known as Boys and Girls Clubs of South Hampton Roads.
The work the six clubs do with children is made possible, in large part, by the United Way of South Hampton Roads. Last year, the youth clubs received about $800,000 from the philanthropic organization. Sixty-eight agencies in South Hampton Roads cities are designated recipients of United Way funds.
And last year, one in five people in South Hampton Roads got help from a United Way agency.
United Way hopes to raise $15.3 million in its 1996 campaign, now under way. As of Friday, $2.3 million had accumulated.
About 2,500 youngsters from more than 1,100 clubs affiliated with Boys and Girls Clubs of America nationwide will be at Walt Disney World for the four-day bash.
Most of the local youths, who range in age from 9 to 13, have never been far from home.
Yolanda has been to Richmond, but that's it. She has 10 siblings. Her mother teaches at Bowling Park Elementary School and her dad is an electrician at Norfolk State University.
``I never thought I'd get to go to Disney World,'' Yolanda said, her eyes sparkling.
Elwood ``Coach'' Williams, executive director of the Southside Boys and Girls Club, said that last year the Berkley Avenue club won three awards for its exemplary programs.
``It's a small organization that's really making a difference,'' said Williams. ``And beyond the walls of the club, too. Our program is designed to counter the problems today's youths confront.''
Williams cited a scholarship program that has sent four youths to college so far.
The club is one of the few in the nation, he said, that was founded specifically for African-American youths. Even as recently as 1970, boys clubs serving whites were closed to blacks, he said.
The club ``has a rich history of self-help,'' said Williams, and serves 1,500 children from Berkley.
The five clubs affiliated with the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Hampton Roads are Virginia Beach, Colonial, W.W. Houston, Campostella and Roberts Village.
Nationally, 1,810 facilities that are part of Boys and Girls Clubs of America serve more than 2 million youngsters.
Criteria used to decide who would get to go to Disney World included behavior, school performance, participation in club activities and need, said Kim Barnes, who directs activities at the Colonial Boys and Girls Club in Norfolk.
``I can tell you these kids will not be shy when we walk through those gates,'' Barnes said. But they were a bit camera shy as a photographer attempted to take their picture.
``That's probably going to be the best part,'' said Barnes, ``seeing their faces''. ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP color photo
Going to Disney World are, from left in front, Teddy Butler, Niyoka
Jenkins, William Drew, Yolanda Bond, Lamarr White; in rear, Fred
Little, Eric Burns, Phalishia Jackson and Nicole Person. by CNB