Community Outreach of South Texas restarts with planning meeting

The non-profit organization formerly known as the Boys’ & Girls Club of Cotulla will restart its operations in the community later this month with a public meeting scheduled for 8 p.m. Tuesday, September 16, at Archy’s Homestyle Burgers on the IH-35 access road.

According to board chairman Michael Birchfield in a prepared statement last week, the organization is looking for public input and will lay out plans for the use of its building on Poole Street on the east side of Cotulla as well as outline some of the community-oriented projects it expects to take on in the coming year.

Those projects range from youth programs to an animal rescue and adoption operation.

The organization has been dormant for three years.

“We are returning and seeking the help of the community to launch a new era of initiatives,” Birchfield wrote. “For these ideas to become reality, we need the public’s help. We need committee volunteers, we need the help of local government, we need the help of community leaders, and we need the help of the business community.”

Among the proposals to be discussed at the restaurant meeting are the refurbishment of the advocacy group’s 60’x60’ building and the establishment of a student resource office, where local youths may find help with the transition from high school to higher education, Birchfield indicated, adding that he hopes the plan includes a “community-school partnership.”

Two of the organization’s founders will be memorialized with a recurring scholarship program, the board chairman said, and daily assistance to the public may be possible through an advocacy office in which staff may help writing, faxing, emailing and filing forms.

A youth soccer program is also on the cards for the group whose origins lie in providing after-school activities and supervision for local children and teens in sports and education-based programs, and the organization hopes to secure two permanent soccer fields for practices and games.

In its branch into saving pets in the community, the organization hopes to establish a dog rescue and adoption center, which the board chairman said he hopes will expand to a larger rural rescue. Granting space in the Community Outreach building for a visiting veterinarian with a regularly scheduled practice for free spaying and neutering and vaccinations, he said, will further enhance the animal program.

Fundraising for the advocacy group, according to Birchfield, will be possible with the return of a popular community prize Bingo – sanctioned by the Texas Lottery Commission under the state’s department of licensing (TDLR). Birchfield said he expects the event to generate sufficient funds to sustain the Community Outreach of South Texas’ utilities as well as its programs.

He added that Bingo games may be held at the AB Alexander Convention Center “until our building is suitable for use.”

Those supporting the group and providing ideas or volunteer service should contact the board chairman by email at [email protected] or text or call (956) 326-8932.

Community Outreach of South Texas can also be found in Facebook on social media.