BY CHERYL SHUMWAY
North Country This Week

MASSENA – The Massena Boys & Girls Club now has a new name: Massena PALS, short for Police Athletic / Activities League. The new affiliation will partner with the local police department.

The organization will still have the same staff, same hours of operation, same membership structure and rates, said Chief Professional Officer Zachary Monroe.

“Much of the programming will stay the same, supplemented by additional, improved content and a new partnership with the Massena Police Department,” said Monroe.

“As a member of PAL, we become part of a nationally recognized program that has existed for more than 100 years. Their mission aligned nearly perfectly with what we have been doing for the five years we have operated, which is civic/service, athletic, recreational, enrichment and educational opportunities,” said Timmy Currier, Massena PAL Board of Directors member and mayor of Massena.

The original Massena club was started in 2013 with provisional status as a Boys & Girls Club. It began providing services to kids in 2015 at Jefferson School. In 2017 it moved to the new clubhouse on Bayley Road.

Boys & Girls Club officially informed the club in 2017 they needed to affiliate or reach a management agreement with an existing-charted club in 2017, but negotiations with Akwesasne and Ogdensburg clubs didn’t work out, said Currier.

The solution was to affiliate with the Police Athletic / Activities League.

“Partnering with our local police will only strengthen our efforts to improve kids’ lives,” said Currier.

“We look forward to continuing to work hard every day, under a new organization, to grow and improve our program to serve our kids,” said Monroe.