Building a path to help area youth
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Cyndie Lempesis addresses a crowd of more than 200 Wednesday during the groundbreaking ceremony of a new Boys and Girls Club in Post Falls. Completion of the new facility, that will be named after Jordan Johnson, Lempesis' son who died in 2006, is scheduled to be completed in November.</p>
POST FALLS - When Jazmyne Lederhos goes to the Boys and Girls Club after school she enjoys the activities, but more elbow room would sure be nice.
The end of the wait for a facility the club can call its own is in sight.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the 10,000-square-foot, $1.3 million building next to the Post Falls Library was held on Wednesday. Completion is expected around Thanksgiving.
"It will be nice to have more room for the stuff we want to do and not have to worry about sharing space," said Lederhos, a fifth-grader at Prairie View Elementary. "Right now we're limited on using the gyms (of the school district)."
Lederhos said she's looking forward to the new club. The program has been based out of the Nazarene church in Post Falls across from Mullan Trail Elementary and different schools in Coeur d'Alene in recent years.
"It's a fun place to go after school and hang out with friends," she said. "The staff is really nice and helpful."
The facility will be named in memory of Jordan Johnson, a friendly former Post Falls student-athlete who died in 2006 at 15 due to a heart condition.
Cyndie Lempesis, Jordan's mother, fought back tears as she spoke about what the honor means to the family.
"Jordan loved God, he loved his family and he loved his friends," Lempesis said. "He was known for having his arm around shoulders, and he was a competitor.
"We're truly honored and humbled to have the Boys and Girls Club named after him."
It will be a place for students ages 6 to 18 such as Chalee Atkinson, a sixth-grader at River City Middle School, to go after school and during summers for games, to do their homework and enroll in programs.
"With all these kids here (in the current situation), it can be crazy," Atkinson said. "It will be nice to be able to go to a gym any time we want."
The groundbreaking, attended by more than 200, comes after seven years of fundraising and a few years of brainstorming and planning before that.
The club has received about $1.3 million in donations and pledges for the facility's construction. About $500,000 in pledges are being sought and are expected to come in this year, leaders say.
The club is still raising funds for operating expenses after the facility opens. It will include a gym, kitchen, technology area, teen area and open space for games and programs. The club has about 500 members, including 400 in Post Falls.
Ryan Davis, the club's executive director, said the facility is about helping more students succeed.
"About a third of our population is kids, but they're 100 percent of our future," Davis said.
Events planned
• Jordan Johnson Memorial Run (5K, 10K, mile), Greyhound Park and Event Center, Post Falls, 9 a.m., Saturday, volunteers welcome, free vendor space, [email protected], race registration 457-9089, www.bgc-northidaho.org, registration for Ice Cream Challenge world-record licking attempt at 10 a.m.