Greta Kulat and Ranayah Williamson walked across the room with Williamson’s left arm draped around Kulat’s shoulders.
The third-graders went to the picture frame station and smiled and giggled while putting stickers on their picture frames. Williamson wrote “Best Friends Ever” on her frame.
It was hard to tell that the youths had met less than 20 minutes earlier.
Kulat and Williamson were two of more than 200 youths who participated in the Western Springs Off the Street Club Circle of Friendship Party on Saturday.
For 20 years, youth from Western Springs and the Off the Street Club from Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood have been coming together for the annual party.
“They get to play with and be with someone who they might never be with otherwise,” said Laura Gatland, Western Springs coordinator of the program.
The Off the Street Club is a home away from home for more than 3,000 kids on Chicago’s West Side. Boys and girls who join Off the Street must pledge that they will not do drugs or join gangs. They also agree not to associate with gang members.
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Bob Konold has been part of the program for all 20 years, starting as a participant and now being an organizer.
His daughter has been through the program as well and, Konold says, she is living proof of the program’s success.
“My daughter was 7 or 8 and we were standing in line at a McDonald’s. She said to me, ‘Dad, that girl over there is smiling at me.’ She didn’t say, ‘Dad, that black girl over there is smiling at me.’ I knew at that point I was involved with something truly special.”
Gatland pointed out that it is not only an annual connection. Individuals from Western Springs visit the club for fun activities on the third Thursday of the month from October through May. There is also an Off the Street Club family picnic and swim party in July at Camp Mathieu in Wheaton that Western Springs residents attend, and two local collection drives done for the club every year.
Kulat, a third-grader at Laidlaw School, and Williamson, a member of the Off the Street Club, walked arm in arm to various stations inside Lyons Township High School’s Corral. They made friendship bracelets, participated in the Cake Walk, and played on jumping equipment.
“This is really fun,” Williamson said of the event. “We get to work together on things.”
“Making things in fun,” Kulat added.
Founded in 1900, Off the Street Club is the oldest boys and girls club in Chicago. Ralph Campagna, executive director, grew up in the club and leads a staff of former club members.
He said the club continues to help kids who need help. Being a private club – much of the agency’s support comes from Chicago advertising agencies – it can set its own rules, such as not allowing gang members, Campagna said.
“The club is comprised of African-American youths right now,” Campagna said. “Twenty years ago, it was Italians.”
Campagna has been moved by children he has encountered in the club. Arnett Morris, who will succeed him as executive director, was raised by Campagna. After seeing the home life of another club member he used to drop off, Campagna adopted the 15-year-old boy, Cass Hill. Hill now serves as one of the club’s leaders.
“We serve as big brother and help a lot of kids,” Cass said. “You don’t have to like the person next to you, but to not like him because of the color of his skin is ridiculous.”
Morris said the club’s efforts pay huge dividends, turning many kids around before they make detrimental decisions.
“Frederick Douglas had a quote, ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.'” Morris said. “Western Springs residents help us build strong children. We can call on them for most anything.”
Brad Promisel, principal at Field Park School, was at event as he has been ever since joining District 101 ten years ago. The district’s other elementary school principals, Debra Farrell of Forest Hills and Erin DeBartolo of Laidlaw, were also on hand.
“This pays huge exponential benefits in students’ education, more than just subjects in school,” Promisel said. “Students get to learn about other heritages. They learn how to work with others.
“And they learn that we are all really not that different.”
Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.