RENSSELAER — The Rensselaer Boys and Girls Club must raise $100,000 in the next several weeks or close by the end of January, club officials said Friday.
"We're in dire straits. We'd be putting 120 kids out on the street every day," said Rick Van Vorst, the club's executive director.
"If support doesn't increase in the next week or two, we'll be closing by the end of January," Van Vorst said.
The club's financial distress in the small, blue-collar Hudson River city comes just 18 months after the Albany Boys and Girls Club teetered on extinction before the community rallied to its aid.
The Rensselaer Club is in such poor financial shape that it was unable to pay its latest National Grid bill and had to negotiate a partial payment and extension with a utility worker at the door prepared to cut gas and electric service.
The club also has been hitting the phones for short-term donations to cover its next payroll, Van Vorst said. About $13,500 was pledged in the last two days, he said.
"It's painful for us to go through this," said Bill McCarthy, who took over Monday as chairman of the club's board of directors.
"The club is very important for the youth in this city," he said.
The 59-year-old club provides space for scouting groups and other youth programs.
Currently, the club is short $100,000 to keep operating. Officials said its budget dropped to $470,000 this year after a loss of about $175,000 in state aid over the last few years. Income for the year does not cover the operating budget, leading to a frantic appeal for assistance.
The 2012 budget is projected to be about $400,000 and the income has not yet been completely determined, Van Vorst said.
To cut costs, the club reduced its employees to one full-time and 10 part-time workers from six full-time and six part-time employees. Van Vorst, the only remaining full-time employee, took an immediate 15 percent pay cut.
Next week, a meeting will be held with parents to discuss impending fee increases if the club remains open. The parents also have been informed that they will have to pick up their children 30 minutes earlier, by 6 p.m.
Thomas Nardacci of Gramercy Communications is volunteering to help spark fund raising. Nardacci received a $1,000 college scholarship from the club and was its Youth of the Year at one time.
"I spent a good part of my days and nights at the club," he said.
McCarthy said the city's small size makes it difficult to raise funds. But, he said, club officials will press to meet the short-term goal.
The club also will appeal to neighboring communities. While its daily attendance is 120 children, it serves about 1,500 different children annually from communities including Castleton, East Greenbush and North Greenbush.
While confronting its short-term needs, McCarthy said, "The board is next trying to determine a long-term solution for the continuing of the club's operations."
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