Riverview Boys & Girls Club Launches 'Bricks of Hope'

In an effort to raise funds to enclose the basketball pavilion, the Riverview Boys & Girls Club and the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce is launching "Bricks of Hope."

Residents can sponsor a brick in the club's Bricks of Hope Pathway in the name of a family, company or in memory of a loved one.

A 12-inch by 12-inch Legacy Brick if $500, an 8-inch by 8-inch Impact Brick is $100 and a 4-inch by 8-inch Hope Brick is $50.

Legacy Bricks will be engraved with up to 10 lines with 23 characters per line.

Impact Bricks can contain six lines with 18 characters per line.

And Hope Bricks can contain three lines with 18 characters per line.

It's all part of an effort to raise more funds for the Boys & Girls Club at 6809, Krycul Ave., Riverview, which now has 105 children attending its programs, which include computer classes, Spanish classes, homework help, sports and other after-school programs for Riverview children.

Those instrumental in helping to build the new 6,000-square-foot Boys & Girls Club were on hand for a grand-opening celebration Friday, Jan. 27, including Supervisor of Elections and chairman of the club's leadership committee, Earl Lennard.

Lennard was instrumental in helping to raise the $2.5 million to build and operate the center, which helps keep kids off the streets in a safe learning environment.

Among the contributor to the campaign were Ray Campo Trust Fund, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Charities and the Mabel & Ellsworth Simmons Charitable Foundation. The Diocese of St. Petersburg and neighboring Resurrection Catholic Church donated the 2-acre site for the club.

The next step is a fundraising campaign to turn the outdoor basketball pavilion into an enclosed gymnasium, said board director Tina Bivins.

In addition to the Bricks of Hope campaign, the club is seeking grants from Brighthouse Networks and Mosaic.

Anyone interested in contributing to the Bricks of Hope campaign can mail checks to the Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay, attention Bricks of Hope Pathway, Steinbrenner Metro Service Center, 1307 N. MacDill Ave., Tampa, 33607.

For information, call 813-387-7070 or email lisasteeves@bgcriverview.com.