By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Community members can make donations to the Boys and Girls Club of Glasgow-Barren County, which is closed due to water damage.
Mallie Boston, chief executive officer, told Glasgow News 1 on Jan. 29 that the prolonged and frigid temperatures caused a water line to burst on the club’s main level.
“With this big freeze that we’ve had…one of our sprinkler water lines that was close to the exterior of the building unfortunately burst — completely cracked in half,” Boston said. “It’s pretty devastating. Our front office is going to need some heavy work done, standing water in our cafeteria, and even more standing water in our basement.”
“We are extremely, extremely lucky that our fabrication lab that holds our laser engravers and those things so far seem to be pretty safe,” she added.
The third floor, which is the area where a majority of the classrooms are, was unaffected, Boston said.
Due to the damage, Boston said the club will be closed at least until the end of the week, though it may be longer depending on the assessment. Boston hopes the community could help fill the community gap during the closure.
“I think there’s going to be opportunities if we are extending the closure, which is definitely possible, [for] community support, whether it’s meals for our families or [to] help provide resources that the club normally does,” Boston said. “We have lots of members that come here every day just for a positive experience, but we have a lot of kids that also attend [whose] supper here is their supper — the meal that they eat when they get off the bus is their last meal for the day. We have our clothing and food pantry [too].”
People who either would like to assist or who are in need of assistance are encouraged to contact Boston at mboston@bgcglasgowbarren.org. The club website also features a “ways to give” option and people can donate that way as well.
Office supplies, binders, laptops and printers are just some of the specific items Boston said the club needed.
Boston said she hoped to know more regarding the closure after the assessment. Repair crews were at the club assessing the damages on Thursday, Jan. 29, Boston said.
“At the end of the day, we will not reopen the doors until we feel that we can safely do that,” Boston said.
Boston gave a special shoutout to members of the Glasgow Fire Department, who are “true heroes that went above and beyond” in helping the club in the direct aftermath.
“I was honestly astounded when I was told the extent they helped,” Boston said. “They not only helped us get things turned off…but stayed for quite a bit of time after and brought their own squeegees and helped us remove as much of the water as they could. I’m positive if they hadn’t done that we’d be looking at a more lengthy list of losses.”
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