Immediately following last week’s small, but surprisingly destructive tornado, damage to Jackson Heights Shopping Center business and some adjacent homes was readily apparent.
That the Boys & Girls Club’s Murfreesboro facility on Jones Boulevard right behind the shopping center was also hit could be seen, but lack of lighting inside the large fenced area behind the club hid the devastation the fast-striking tornado had wrought.
By Sunday morning’s sunlight the heavy damage club officials had discovered the night before was apparent to all. The club’s gymnasium and Puckahuddle play area were stripped of their roofs, internal water damage was extensive and outdoors facilities were ravaged.
Amazingly, the club was open to the children it served right on schedule Monday as club staff and officials scrambled over the weekend and with a big assist from the City of Murfreesboro returned to the McFadden Community Center where the club had been located for many years before moving to the Jones Boulevard facility.
While back in operation last week without skipping a proverbial beat, the club faces some major challenges in coming weeks and months as it tries to restore the damaged facility in time to serve the huge number of children who attend Boys & Girls Club in the summer.
Like many charitable, public service organizations, the B&GC was already forced to make financial adjustments to the current economic situation.
Last weekend’s losses will create additional financial pressure and likely force expenditures that would not have otherwise been needed.
This community has always been there for the Boys & Girls Club, and we believe in this special time of need it will be again. |
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