Boys Club of Lancaster Graduate House

In 1980-1981 the Lancaster Rotary Club was looking for possible projects that could involve the total membership and be a valuable service to the community. This subsequently proved to be the project known as "Graduate House."

Early in 1982, the Club voted overwhelmingly to fund Graduate House for the Boys Club of America, at the C.A. Snyder Service Site, Marticville, PA.

Boys of age 17-21 were accommodated for a maximum of one year. The boys would pay minimum room and board from their earnings. The Club provided financial support of $7,100 the first year and gave committee support to the project as well as employment counseling for the boys. The money came from the trust fund and from additional fundraising projects.

Thus, the major project which the Club had been seeking to replace its former Rotary Home project was finally found. It proved both rewarding and beneficial to the community. The committee which guided this extremely successful venture was comprised of Ron Hill, Gil Lyons, Wally Otto, Tim Peters, and Jim Schoeplein.

The Club's variety show Ah, Variety netted $8,100, much of which went to the Graduate House project.

The highlight of the 1981-1982 Rotary year was the Club being co-recipient with the Lancaster Boys Club of the National Award of Excellence for the Graduate House Program. This award was presented by the Boys Club of America at their National Conference in Washington, DC on June 4, 1982.

By 1983, Graduate House was obviously a successful project, and many Club members were participating in it. Perhaps the most significant contributions were by those who obtained work for the young men while they were in the program.

The responsibility of the Club for support of the Graduate House Program at Camp Snyder was felt throughout the year. Appeals for job placement, clothing and counseling were readily accepted by Rotarians in an effort to help in the development of four students to reach their potential. Financial support of the Graduate House Project came primarily from the annual fundraiser Ah Variety and its Fulton Opera House performances that netted $9,000.

In 1984, the Graduate House project of the partnership of the Lancaster Rotary Club and the Lancaster Boys' Club was selected as one of the 25 best community service projects in Pennsylvania out of 3000 applicants to receive the prestigious Keystone Award.

Past President Tony Appel, then President Judge of Lancaster County said the Juvenile Court system recognized and used the facilities of the Graduate House to help young men make themselves productive members of society. The Club had a long history of work in this field, from the Rotary Home days until the Graduate House. Mary Ellen Kiernan, Director of the Graduate House program, said the young men in the program, ages 17 to 21, must show that they are motivated to be productive members of the community, to give five hours per week of helpful work to the Boys Club or the community, to get a job and hold on to it, and to pay thirty percent of their salary to the Boys Club.

Past president Hank Brown, a Graduate House Advisor, told how he was working with one of the boys. He had become the boys' "adopted parent" and was without a doubt a prime example of service above self.

In 1986, a status report indicated 21 of the 25 Graduate House alumni were taxpaying citizens. All nine of the current participants were working, paying room and board, and performing community service work.

The Graduate House Program was expanded by development of a facility for twenty boys located in Lancaster and appropriately named the C. W. and Dudley Armstrong Center.

Records of Rotary involvement ended after this point.

Next: McCaskey High School Projects