From bookshelves to school supplies, Ed Wise and the Elks Lodge ensures the local Boys & Girls Club has what it needs to enrich the lives of local youth.
Plant City resident and Elks member Ed Wise fondly recalls his days as a youth attending the local Boys & Girls Club in his hometown of Indianapolis.
“I grew up in a tougher part of Indianapolis in a family of seven kids and my family didn’t have money to join the YMCA,” he said. “We lived in a working-class neighborhood, nobody had an expensive house, hardly anyone had a garage.”
His father was a milkman and his mother worked in an auto parts warehouse. Starting at age 12, he would work with his dad delivering milk during the summer months but that still left him with hours of time to fill.
He filled that time with activities offered by the local Boys & Girls Club. “They had a boxing coach there and you could learn the basics of boxing, they also had a couple pools tables and a basketball court,” said Wise. “In the summer after I got done working I’d go there three or four days a week.”
He credits the program for teaching him many life lessons.
“I learned that boxing hurts and I’m not really good at basketball,” he joked.
His time at the club taught turned out to be invaluable to his development. “They had strict rules, you couldn’t start trouble so it was a safe place in my tough neighborhood,” he said.
Wise said he turned down more than one offer to join a gang. “The people that ran the club were nice and just focused on everyone having a good time and the alternative was hanging out in the streets and getting into mischief and I didn’t want to be a part of that,” he said.
The local retiree has now come full circle, returning to the very place that played a significant role in shaping his childhood. He now has become a cherished volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club at 901 South Waller Street in Plant City, dedicating his time and resources to making a positive impact on the lives of young children.
He and his wife, Judy, who joined the Elks Lodge in the early 2000’s, said he started volunteering his time when several years ago he was asked by the Elks’ youth program organizer to help to assemble some bookshelves for the club.
“I saw the need, they didn’t have money to do anything,” he said. “I went to the Elks and asked if we could give them a little help.”
Over the last several years, that help has included obtaining grants from the Elks National Foundation and local residents. Those funds have been used to mulch the club’s playground, install new televisions, add foosball and air hockey tables, assemble an outdoor shed and purchase sports equipment, art and school supplies and a charging station for the kids’ laptops. His son donated a full-sized pool table to the club.
Recently, Wise just ordered more items totaling $1900 for the club and, with the help of other volunteers, installed safety mirrors in three rooms and assembled a metal storage cabinet.
“My fellow Elks are always willing to support me and they love the Boys & Girls Club too,” said Wise.
There are numerous ways to help the Boys & Girls Club, whether it’s through volunteering, making a donation or becoming a sponsor. For more information about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay visit bgctampa.org.
