A look inside Kuna’s new Boys and Girls Club, which took 18 years to create

KUNA, Idaho — After years of hard work, the new location of the Kuna Boys and Girls Club will soon be open to children. The Boys and Girls Club will host a grand opening event for the public at the new facility on Friday, July 12 at 1:30 p.m.

• The club will officially open to children on Monday, July 15th.
• The new facility features a variety of specialized spaces, from a playroom and technology labs to an art studio and youth center.
• For more information about the Ada County Boys and Girls Club, click here.

(Below is the transcript of the broadcast report.)

“It will have a very strong impact on our children here, I hope a stronger impact than we ever imagine,” says Cori.

This project is particularly close to Cori Norton’s heart.

“Oh, I’m thrilled, I was very emotional today. I went into a room and cried because I’m not sad, I’m happy. I’m so happy for the kids,” says Norton.

As director of the Kuna Unit of the Boys and Girls Club, she has worked for years to make this happen.

Idaho News 6 covered the start of construction on the new facility in January. Now that it’s complete, the building offers a variety of specialty spaces, from game rooms and technology labs to an art studio and youth center.

“We’ve never had a youth center in Kuna before and it’s so important that our teenagers have a safe place here where they want to be,” says Norton.

“Now we can serve youth ages zero to 18,” says Tim O’Donnell, marketing director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ada County.

He tells me that part of the new facility is dedicated to childcare.

“Here we can care for children from 0 to 5 years old. With this one wing alone we have almost become one of the largest daycare centers in the Kuna area,” says O’Donnell.

Membership for parents costs $35 per week. Over 300 children are already registered at the new location, and over 70 are on the waiting list.

“We offer scholarships for families who cannot afford the $35 a week. No one is turned away,” Norton added.

“This is not due to the efforts of others, but to the community. Even though our name is on the outside door, it really belongs to Kuna,” says O’Donnell.