An artist’s rendering of the new Club. (Photo courtesy of the Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County).
The Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County has launched a capital campaign to help fund an additional Clubhouse.
The organization hopes to raise $7.5 million in charitable gifts through its More Than Hope campaign. In addition to the Clubhouse, the Boys and Girls Club plans to use funds to build an endowment to help offset program operating costs of its new Career & Education Center.
The More Than Hope campaign is anchored by a $1 million commitment from Novo Nordisk, a global health care company with U.S. headquarters in Plainsboro. Jeff Frazier, corporate vice president of human resources and a member of the club’s board of directors, made the announcement Jan. 24. He was joined by Eddie Williams, corporate vice president of biopharmaceuticals and chairman of the More than Hope Campaign.
“By making an investment with the Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County, we are making an investment in our community and its future,” Williams said in a statement.
The new Boys & Girls Club, to be located at 1040 Spruce Street in Lawrence, is designed to provide a wide range of program opportunities for children and teens from the City of Trenton, as well as from Lawrence and Ewing townships.
Novo Nordisk is a longtime supporter of the Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County. In addition to providing financial support, the company’s employees serve on the club’s board of directors, volunteer at day camps, serve as career mentors and coordinate an innovative summer internship program for local high school seniors.
Through the More Than Hope campaign, the Club plans to double the number of teenagers in its programs as well as introduce a variety of vocational and technical career tracks for non college-bound teens.
The new 35,000-square-foot facility will house a wide variety of programs and include a gymnasium (to be named in honor of Novo Nordisk), a teen center, a technology center, a game room, a teaching kitchen and café, and several multi-purpose classrooms.
More information is online at bgcmercer.org.
