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All spruced up: Boys & Girls Club of St. Cloud gets revamp

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Beautification is underway at the St. Cloud Boys & Girls Club.

About 20 volunteers donated their time Friday to revitalize the facility.

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“We live in Florida, lots of overgrown trees and grass area,” Brianna Laurenceau, the Volunteer Resource Manager for the Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida, said.

“We wanted the kids to have the opportunity to still play in the playground without it being muddy.”

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Replanting flower beds and laying fresh mulch is how volunteers from the club and Addition Financial Credit Union tackled the project.

They worked for hours to improve the St. Cloud branch appearance.

“These kids deserve so much,” Cristina Lehman, the Executive Director of the Addition Financial Foundation, said.

“They deserve a really nice play area, so we’re here rolling up our sleeves and getting dirty.”

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The St. Cloud branch serves as an after-school space and summer camp for area kids. During the school year, they can grab a snack, sometimes a hot meal, and do class work before heading home.

“They get an opportunity to do power hour where they get to do homework and knock out any task, which their parents won’t have to help them after school,” Laurenceau said.

It also provides them with an outdoor space to use as a break. It is an area volunteers told us can impact kids for years to come.

“We really hope that the kids come and feel so special, loved, and that people really thought about them when we came out here,” Lehman said.

“It’s for them, it’s for the kids.”

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A second branch was also supposed to get a revamp, but because of Hurricane Helene, that has been put on hold.

Leaders tell us when a grant becomes available, that branch in Kissimmee will get the updates it needs as well.

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