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Boys & Girls Club CEO urges more support as Palm Springs club faces funding uncertainty
Summary
Margaret Kelly, CEO of the Palm Springs Boys & Girls Club, told the Human Rights Commission the club serves about 300 largely disadvantaged youth, is mostly self-funded and has seen delayed pass-through funds that strained operations; she asked commissioners to help spread the word and support outreach and fundraising.
Margaret Kelly, CEO and executive director of the Palm Springs Boys & Girls Club, told the Human Rights Commission on March 9 that the club — founded in 1948 and located in Sunrise Park — is 100% self-funded, serves roughly 300 children and relies on modest membership fees plus scholarships to operate.
Kelly said the club’s members “mirror” local demographics, reporting that close to 97% of children they work with come from disadvantaged households and that nearly one in three children in the Coachella Valley live below the poverty line. She said the club provides transportation for unhoused children, summer cooling and meals, and a range of programs from water-safety instruction to arts and sports leagues.
The chief executive described a recent funding disruption that affected the club’s budget: “We saw the freeze on federal funding which for us impacted us around $200,000 in pass-through funding that we were expecting and did not get until much later,” Kelly said, urging commissioners to help amplify the club’s needs to donors and civic partners.
Kelly highlighted programmatic investments and services, including evidence-based curricula required by the Boys & Girls Club of America, a newly certified autism center training program for staff, and what she described as a first-in-network cannabis-education prevention center. She also described safety upgrades — internal and external camera systems, quarterly drills and a written safety policy — and told commissioners that volunteer roles are intentionally limited to applicants with specific expertise who can pass background checks.
Commissioners asked about eligibility, mental-health supports and grant-seeking. Kelly said the club accepts children whose parents work in Palm Springs and that the organization pursues a mix of local grants, state funds (including a Prop 64 grant she cited) and occasional federal grants, but that federal grant management requires additional administrative capacity. She said the club is recruiting a development position to support federal grant work and reporting.
Kelly invited commissioners and the public to visit the club and donate online, and she said the club intends to expand outreach (including mobile programming to nearby Desert Hot Springs) and to consider lowering the enrollment age as staffing and facilities permit.
The commission did not take action on the presentation; members thanked Kelly and discussed possible avenues to raise the club’s local profile.
