CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Portage County Discusses New Chapter in Marshfield

Monday, March 10th, 2025 -- 3:00 PM

The Boys & Girls Club of Marshfield is working to bring a chapter of the organization to Marshfield.

I had the opportunity to speak with Danielle Belsky, Chief Executive Officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County, and she discussed the organization, bringing a chapter to Marshfield and more.

Listen to the interview with Danielle here!

For more information or to support the Boys & Girls Club of Marshfield, visit www.bgclubpc.org/marshfield. 

(AI assisted transcription of the interview by Otter.ai):

Riley: "The Boys and Girls Club of Marshfield is working to bring a chapter of the organization to Marshfield. I had the opportunity to speak with Danielle Belsky, Chief Executive Officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Portage County, and she discussed the organization bringing a chapter to Marshfield and more."

Danielle: "Boys and Girls Clubs really are that safe after school support that kids can go to when parents or guardians or foster parents are working. We provide that after school time care and then also full day programming during the summer."

"So, when kids aren't in school, where do they go? Whether it's a no school day e-learning summer, that's where a Boys and Girls Club comes into place, and we are a key advocate for youth in the sense of this is a place where they can come socialize."

"They get to learn. We do a lot of fun activities, STEM, workforce readiness, art programming. Of course, we gotta do some gymnasium games and pay games with them."

But, it's a place for the kids to be kids, to get a healthy hot meal or a snack, and or a snack, I should say, but, then it provides that safe support that when, if we weren't here, where would they go?"

"They'd be probably in front of their devices at home, right? Potentially not having that supervision. But it's the place for a kid to be a kid, and safe environment for them to come and be inspired and empowered to be the best self."

Riley: "So then, can you talk a little bit about where the idea came from to bring a Boys and Girls Club to Marshfield?"

Danielle: "The idea of bringing a Boys and Girls Club to Marshfield started about a little over a year ago when MACCI, the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce, reached out and said, 'Hey, we are seeing a need.'"

"'There is a gap in after school care program in our community. Lot of employers/businesses are needing a place for their kids to go. We heard about a Boys and Girls Club. How do we get one in our town?'"

And so that's really when we started. We came around the table. We invited some key community businesses, stakeholders, partners, and said, 'This is how you go about bringing a club to the community.'"

"And one of the first steps is development of an advisory board, and that's essentially your board of directors. This is before a club gets opened. It's a group of key individuals who are very passionate and mission driven."

"And so right now, we have about 15 advisory members that started. We officially formed in July of 2024 and, since then, we've been meeting trying to figure out, 'where is the location, where's the funding coming from?'"

"'Where do we start out, what age/ages, what time?' All of that goes into the development of an organization and one of the key factors about bringing a Boys and Girls Club to the community is that, from Boys and Girls Club of America's perspective, a club can't just be formed."

"They can't just start out with thin air. They it has to start out under a neighboring Boys and Girls Club, under the umbrella of a neighboring Boys and Girls Club."

"So that's where it was determined. Between us and Wisconsin Rapids Boys and Girls Club, we had a board member who was very passionate about this project from the Marshfield area, and it was very fitting for us, and Rapids was very favorable for us to take this under our wing."

"And so that's when we really started. Was about last July, looked at a couple locations, and then we really started developing a great relationship with the Marshfield Area School District."

"And one of the key ways to start a club is to start in a school based location, especially as you build up your reputation, your relationships, figuring out the community and Dr. Christensen and school board was very welcoming."

"They were very open to us starting a school based location. And that's what we're determined to do. We are set to open on June 16 at Grant Elementary School and we would be providing after that summer school day is done."

"We'd be providing programming till about 5:30pm Monday through Friday and then, going into the fall, we would relocate those services to Lincoln Elementary School.

Riley: "If there's someone out there who is hearing about this and they're interested in perhaps getting involved or helping out in some way, is there a way for them to do that?"

Danielle: "Yeah, definitely. You can give us a call. Just Call the Boys and Girls Club Portage County, our direct line is 715-341-4386, or simply send an email to [email protected]."

"We do have a website that is up and running just with Boys and Girls Club Marshfield. You'll have to google Boys and Girls Club Portage County, and then it's under one of our club site locations. And then we're also working on bringing a Facebook page specifically to a Boys and Girls Club of Marshfield."

"So stay tuned for more information in that area, but really looking for support, collaboration, ideas, just even educating the Community to get the word out on what is a Boys and Girls Club and what is our vision for the future."

Riley: "Anyting else you'd like to add?"

Danielle: "The last thing I would add would just to kind of touch a little bit about funding right now. So, right now our goal is to have two years of operational funds in hand."

"We really want to get make sure that we build a sustainable program for the Marshfield community. And it really has to be, you know, locally funded. We are grant relying for special events, you know, an annual appeal that we have."

"But right now, our goal is a million dollars for two years of operational funds, and then also start up costs for that. And over the next two years, we're going to look to find that stand alone location that we can really expand to serve more kids and really expand into that teen and tween population."

From the very beginning, we heard from the Advisory Board, from parents, businesses, that they're looking for a location for those teens to go, and so starting at the elementary level, and then within two years, find that at home, so we can expand in that teen and tween."

"But we're 75% of our way to our goal right now. So very exciting. We're almost there, and we hope to accomplish that over the next few months, so we can open those doors on June 16."

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.