KARTS is willing to expand its bus route to the Aycock Recreation Complex this summer to help kids who need something to do, the Vance County Coalition Against Violence heard Thursday night.
Bill Edwards, the president of the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce, reported that he and Warren Hare fulfilled their coalition-assigned mission and, through KARTS, found a way for youths to get from the city to the recreation center on Carey Chapel Road.
The problem, Edwards said, is that the recreation center might not be ready for the kids.
According to Edwards, Recreation Director Alan Gill said he’s not staffed “to know that at any given time X amount of kids could show up.”
Edwards said he told Gill it would be better to have a KARTS van carrying six or eight kids show up once an hour than have 30 or more kids show up at once on a church bus, which was another transportation option Edwards and Hare looked into.
“The recreation center is there for the children,” Deryl Von Williams said. “I don’t know how the presence of children could create a dilemma for them.”
“He was just talking about numbers,” Edwards said. “I agree with you. … I’m the messenger.”
As with many other issues the coalition has confronted, such as police staffing and salaries, the problem at Aycock comes down to funding, he said.
The coalition needs to talk with Gill about what staffing and resources he needs, then the coalition can try to find a solution, Abdul Rasheed said. “I don’t think we should be defeated by any no about any issue we have prioritized.”
Marolyn Rasheed said Gill has told her that staffing is a problem, and Cathy Ringley said Aycock’s budget has taken a $300,000 hit in recent years.
Underuse has been a problem at Aycock, Abdul Rasheed said, but now finances could stand in the way of a solution to that problem.
Rasheed said the coalition can’t just go to the city every time it finds something worth some extra money. Instead, the churches, the service clubs and the individuals need to be willing to sacrifice and stretch to improve the community.
Edwards said the donation doesn’t have to be money. He suggested that if the recreation center would prepare to take as many children as could reach Aycock at certain times on certain days, the faith community could agree to provide as many chaperones as necessary. “You’ve got to have certified lifeguards for kids to get into the pool at Aycock, but you don’t have to have certified chaperones.”
Clyde Davis III suggested that the coalition could enlist high-schoolers as volunteer chaperones for younger kids, giving both groups of kids something to do and helping the high school students bulk up their college applications.
“We need to have a plan,” Edwards said, offering for Hare and himself to follow up with the recreation center. “We can’t accept no from Alan Gill.”