One big family affair

It’s a family affair at the Boys and Girls Club in Richmond Hill, where Diana Byfield works as Youth Development Director and her children are volunteers.
Olivia Byfield, 15, and her brother Carl, 17, donate their time at the Club after school and during the summer. Their mother Diana has been working there for eight years, and has been Youth Development Director for five.
As Youth Development Director, Diana is in charge of the teenagers, and is like a mother to all the children.
“She knows more about some of these kids than their own parents,” said Olivia.
“Everyone always says, ‘Diana, get your kids!’ whenever they do something wrong, or they need them to do something,” Diana said.
“I’m everybody’s mama!” she said with a laugh.
From the way they gush about her, it’s clear that Diana’s [three biological] children are her biggest fans. They spoke of their mother’s ability to reach teens, and all had anecdotes about her influence on the kids at the center.
Many of the adolescents do call her “mom,” much to her children’s annoyance.
“People will say, ‘where’s mama,’ and I’ll say, ‘I don’t know, where is your mother?’” said her youngest son, Savion, who at 13 is too young to volunteer at the Club.
During her time with the organization, Diana has seen a lot of children grow up.
What she finds most rewarding, though, is seeing the children come back as adults.
“They come back with their own kids and say, ‘you were right, thanks.’”
Diana’s own children have also grown up in the club; in fact, they are the reason she became involved in the first place.
Shortly after Diana and her family moved into their home in Richmond Hill nearly a decade ago, Olivia, then 6, asked to start going to the club, which is located near the house.
Olivia’s best friend went to the club all the time, and her mother worked there, as well. “So I wanted to go too,” Olivia said.
“At first I had separation anxiety,” explained Diana. “I was working part time and would be home by 3 p.m.; my kids would be at the center all the time, and I missed them. One day, I decided to go in and check it out, and they asked me to volunteer.”
Diana started out by working in the kitchen and the store.
Then she was asked to teach.
“They needed someone to teach computer classes, and I had just finished attending school for that, so they asked me to do it.”
When the children became old enough, they started volunteering at the club as well. Carl, a junior at Richmond Hill High School, has been helping out on-and-off for two or three years.
“I started volunteering because I wanted to get a job, but I was too young,” he said.
As a volunteer, Carl helps distribute snacks throughout the building. Through his involvement, he was named president of the Keystone Club.
Olivia, a junior enrolled at Washington Irving High School, has been donating her services at the club since she was a freshman.
As a volunteer, Olivia helps younger children with their homework, and sometimes helps in the gym.
Spending time at the club is one more element in the already busy lives of the brother and sister team.
Outside of volunteering, Carl also has a job and plays on his school’s basketball team.
Olivia’s demanding course load has her doing homework until 10 p.m. most evenings.
Though she has yet to complete high school, Olivia hopes to study psychology at the University of North Carolina and play basketball. She is considering being a social worker, and sees her volunteering as a step in the right direction.
Her hard work is paying off.
She was named “Youth of the Year” by the Boys and Girls Club for 2007.
Diana’s youngest, Savion, is a freshman at The High School for Law Enforcement and Public Safety in Jamaica. While he is not an official volunteer, he has helped out at the snacks table.
Savion said he plans to volunteer at the center when he turns 14.
While Diana acknowledges that her children need to branch out and do things on their own, she enjoys that they work together. She sees it as a way to bring the family closer and open communication lines.
“I love [working together]. I think more families should do it,” she said.