Extensive Cleanup Effort Taking Place At Boys & Girls Club
DENVER (CBS4) - Donations are badly needed for a Denver Boys & Girls Club facility after hail and flooding during last week's storms caused $250,000 in damage.
Instead of being filled with the voices of kids this weekend the J. Churchill Owen branch on Kentucky has been filled with the steady drone of fans.
The facility in the city's Westwood neighborhood was first damaged by heavy hail. Officials said the hail left 7,000 to 10,000 holes in the roof. Leaks formed in the game room and the gym.
After that flooding caused further damage inside, and now there are concerns about mold forming if the cleanup isn't done properly.
This weekend ping pong tables were covered in flapping plastic next to plastic buckets to catch falling rain.
The fans were set up in the gym and in other areas to dry things out.
Officials have had a tough time telling the children who normally go to the club about the closure. The Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver has nine other locations but most of those are operating at or above capacity, meaning there's just no room to take on all of the members from the Westwood location.
"We've been telling them we're sorry. We're sorry that the club is closed and we're sorry we don't have the opportunity to serve them for the rest of the summer and we've been working with parents as best we can to help them find alternatives," club president John Arigoni told CBS4.
About 2,000 disadvanted kids take part in activities at the club. They are between 6 and 18 years old.
The heavy storms also damaged something far less valuable but still important to many -- a garden planted in part by children from the club.
