Green River Community Center in its 10th year of service

By Zina Willard Guest Writer

What did you do for spring break?
Well one group consisting of 30 members of Lutheran Churches in and around Boulder, Colo. spent their spring break painting and fixing up the Community Center/Boys and Girls Club in Green River.
They brought with them tools, plants, funding and energy. Because they wanted to give to the community, paint was purchased at ACE Hardware in Green River. Ladders and scaffolding went up and the delicious lemon tinted paint flowed onto the 100 year old building. They paid High Desert Excavation to remove old tree stumps and roots so that gravel can be placed at a later date when funding is available.
Members of the group including Pastor Chad had visited the Boys and Girls Club last summer and saw that it needed their help. The Community Center was established in 2001 and this is their 10 year anniversary. In 2008 the ceiling of the building that they were occupying collapsed due to extreme rainfall and weather. They moved to the much smaller building that they currently occupy thanks to the efforts of the City of Green River and the Emery County Commissioners. Shortages in grant and donation funding have not allowed the fix up that the building needed.
Executive Director, Joni Pace said, “Thanks to our Lutheran friends, our building got the face lift that it needed, it is a fresh start into spring and the beginning of even more great things to come.”
From the Community Center/Boys and Girls Club of Green River; Thank You Atonement Lutheran Church Boulder, Colo., First Evangelical Lutheran Church Longmont, Colo., Trinity Lutheran Church Boulder, Colo., Christ The Servant Louisville, Colo., your love and generosity will benefit this community for years to come and we will always remember our Lutheran friends from Colorado.
The Green River Community Center is proud to be in their 10th year of helping the citizens of Green River. Their many programs have enriched the lives of the children as well as the adults in Green River. Many events have been held through the years. The community center has given students a place to go after school with homework help, activities and computer access. The center has provided meals for children and for the senior citizens. They have held bazaars each Christmas with programs and activities for the community. The clean-up projects for the city have been ongoing since the inception of the community center. Each summer a reading program for the youth and a summer camp is held with a different theme and emphasis each year. The community center has been involved in getting funding for a new skate park for the town. The list goes on and on of the accomplishments of the hard workers at the community center. Their dreams of an active and involved community are coming true with the support of the entire town’s citizens as well as Green River City and the support of Emery and Grand counties.