Boys and Girls Club asks Carbondale for $50,000 as residents press for transparency

Doctor Glenn Bouchard, speaking on behalf of the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Illinois, told the Carbondale City Council the organization needs to raise $200,000 within the next two months to qualify for a possible $400,000 grant and reopen program sites by the start of school this August. He described managerial failures that contributed to the club’s closure and said the reconstituted board plans to contract an external accounting firm and recruit a chief executive with strong financial skills to avoid past problems.

“The board asked me to chair a fundraising effort to raise $200,000 in the next two months,” Bouchard said. He identified a request to city leaders for a $50,000 contribution as a major-donor ask and said Marion recently appropriated $50,000 in support.

Several residents and volunteers who spoke during public comment welcomed efforts to restore after-school programming but pressed the club and council on transparency. Chastity Mays, representing the Black Chamber of Commerce of Southern Illinois, promoted Juneteenth events and said she had concerns about the club’s past. “There’s no transparency about what happened,” Mays told the council, saying board members approached her but could not answer questions because of an ongoing investigation.

Council members also raised procedural and oversight concerns. Council member Maxwell said she appreciated the presentation but listed “lack of organized governance and structure, administration problems, complaints about staff treatment and dropped enrollment” as issues that must be resolved before the council considers funding. Bouchard said the board has a hiring committee in place, will add professionals with accounting credentials and plans to provide the council with updated board membership and governance documentation after the board is reconstituted.

No formal vote to fund the club was held at the meeting. Council members asked staff to follow up with the club for additional information, including the names and qualifications of the new board and CEO candidates, and to provide requested documents before the council takes funding up for consideration.

What happens next: Bouchard said the club will continue its fundraising campaign and expects to present requested financial and governance materials to council in a future meeting; no city appropriation was approved in this session.