Bill Payne addresses the gathering at the Boys and Girls Club of the Eastern Shore’s Proclamation Day
By Ted Shockley
The numbers that define the Eastern Shore Boys and Girls Club are startling.
During a recent year, it provided 34,848 hours of homework help and 37,802 hot meals to 242 registered members.
Based at Occohannock Elementary School in Exmore, and part of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia, the Eastern Shore unit opened in 2003 and has been serving area youth ever since with summer and after-school programs.
Boys and Girls Club Board member Wayne Bell, Jr. presents a $5,000 check to Board Chair Bill Payne and Unit Director Kathy Custis.
On Thursday, April 25, the local unit celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Southeast Virginia unit with a cake, a proclamation from the Northampton County Board of Supervisors and the announcement of a special $5,000 gift from the United Way of Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
“This will help buy a lot of hot meals and a lot of school supplies,” said Bill Payne, a board member of the Eastern Shore’s Boys and Girls Club.
Spencer Murray, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, read the proclamation that named the day in honor of the club.
Of all his duties, “This is one of the pleasant things,” said Murray to a crowd in the Occohannock Elementary School auditorium.
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