Ripon is getting its first Boys & Girls Club facility next year. Here's what to know as construction starts.
RIPON – The Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County Area is close to its fundraising goal and has started construction on its first facility in Ripon.
The new facility will sit on the corner of Blackburn and East Blossom streets, and club staff and board members celebrated the next step with a groundbreaking ceremony April 30 alongside Ripon community members, donors and local government leaders.
Board member Mary Lyke, whose family donated the seed money to get the project started, said the idea of establishing a Ripon club has been nine years in the making, and fundraising has been active for the last three.
The Ripon site, expected to open in summer 2025, will offer daily and local affordable care to support area youth's academic success, healthy lifestyles, character building and leadership, according to the club's website.
It will include a full-size gymnasium, licensed child care rooms, skilled trades workshops and a teen employment center, and members will have access to internet and other technology, basic needs programs and regular hot meals from the commercial kitchen.
Additionally, club programming engages members in activities that are aimed to create a positive environment where children and teens can learn expectations of respect, civility and courtesy, all while having fun and maintaining a sense of belonging with their peers.
The project has a total fundraising goal of $13 million, which has so far been supported by individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit groups.
In addition to the Lyke family, major donors include Tom and Carol Joseph, Tim and Vicky Wuest's family and the Webster family of Webster's Marketplace, who donated $1.3 million for the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the trajectory of lives of Ripon’s children, now and for generations to come," according to Rob Webster.
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Ed Wabiszewski also donated $1 million on behalf of the late Mary Wabiszewski, his wife of more than 55 years, for the club to maintain its original vision of the building. The groundbreaking honored his 92nd birthday, for which attendees presented him with a birthday cake and card while singing "Happy Birthday."
At the groundbreaking, the Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County Area CEO Jason Presto showed his appreciation for the donors and anyone else who was involved in getting the project this far.
"It wasn’t easy; it certainly wasn’t fast, but nothing worthwhile ever is," he said. "I have no doubt that the effort and resources committed to this vision will pay incredible dividends for the youth, residents and the community for generations to come."
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The Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County Area is based in Berlin, with another facility in Green Lake. The Ripon location will be its third.
For more about the future site, as well as updates to construction and the last leg of fundraising, visit bgctric.org/followripon.
Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Ripon is getting its first Boys & Girls Club: When and where
