Youngsters in Long Island City probably won’t make the trip to St. Louis for the 2009 Major League Baseball All Star Game Home Run Derby this year, but they have their own recently opened new “Home Run Derby Teen Center” to enjoy thanks to Major League Baseball (MLB) and State Farm.
The recently renovated teen center happened after MLB and State Farm donated $50,000 to the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens located in Long Island City after the organization’s representative, Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer, won the 2008 State Farm Homerun Derby Contest held at Yankee Stadium.
The new space, which encompasses a baseball theme, includes the main area or “stadium” with a wall mural of a baseball crowd, two 46-inch flat-screen televisions, Nintendo Wii, new couches and game tables.
“The kids absolutely loved it,” said Variety Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Karen Johnson. “We have never seen anything this nice in the Boys and Girls Club.”
However, the new teen center is not just about fun and games. It also includes a back room or “press box” that features a new learning center with nine new iMac computers, Kaplan SAT software and schoolwork space.
“It’s intended to encapsulate the duality between baseball and work and play,” Johnson said.
While the numbers of students coming to the Long Island City Variety Boys and Girls Club had been dwindling during the past years, the new teen center has led to a surge in attendance with students excited to use the new space.
“By having a space like this, it’s going to take kids off the street,” Johnson said.
In addition, the Variety Boys and Girls Club used the money to make structural improvements to the facility, and Johnson was very appreciative to MLB and State Farm.
“Obviously without them, this wouldn’t have been possible,” she said.
