McALLEN — Wednesday, Oct. 26, was 46 years in the making for the South McAllen area. The Boys & Girls Club of McAllen unveiled its new gym floors which replace the old floors that were installed back in 1976.
Club officials hope it will improve the quality of play for area youth who need an outlet in the Galveston Avenue area that the club services.
The installation, which costs around $78,000, was paid for in full by Buffalo Wild Wings, according to Yirla Gonzalez Nolan, chief development officer for the Boys & Girls Club of McAllen.
Gonzalez Nolan said Wednesday that the old flooring needed to be upgraded because of its aged material and faded paint that made games like basketball difficult for kids to play.
“We had this goal for a while that we wanted to update the flooring,” Gonzalez Nolan said, adding that a majority of the club’s funds are dependent on fundraisers. That’s where Buffalo Wild Wings helped, much to the gratitude of club staff.
The new floors alleviate those concerns for a club that services 12,000 kids in the area annually, kids that Gonzalez Nolan said would otherwise have to venture further for sports amenities just to play basketball or volleyball.
She also explained that the gym plays a significant role in the club’s regular programming; therefore, they wanted to provide the kids with a newer and safer gym floor.
“At the forefront of having our programs is always safety, so we just wanted to make sure it was updated so kids continue playing but safer,” Gonzalez Nolan said.
For Brayn Soltis, regional vice president for Buffalo Wild Wings, providing the funding for a new gym floor went hand-in-hand with the values of the company.
Community is among the core values of Buffalo Wild Wings, he said. So when he heard of the conditions of the club’s gym floor they found a way to help, in this case by donating some of the funds raised in 2021 during his company’s annual fundraiser.
“Any opportunity that I have where I can help give back and help give kids more opportunities that maybe wouldn’t have them otherwise, I feel very humble to be able to do that,” Soltis said.
