BROOKSVILLE — Youths in Hernando County have a new place to spend their summer, as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tampa Bay opens a program at Coach Lorenzo Hamilton Sr. Park.
The program runs June 8 to July 31, from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. It can serve 40 youths at the start and will expand as demand grows. The cost is $75 a week, and scholarships are available.
It is the organization’s first Boys & Girls Club in Hernando County. Club and local officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting Friday, May 22, to preview the offerings.
The organization said it is not affiliated with the former Boys & Girls Club of Hernando County, which has closed. “This launch represents a new chapter: new leadership, new oversight, new financial structures and a commitment rooted in listening and rebuilding trust through transparency and consistent excellence,” it said in handout materials.
Britney Grant, vice president of regional services, said the organization opened the club after identifying a need in the community.
“We’re going to focus on field trips, how to make it a success, the prevention of summer learning loss, health and wellness, sports fitness and recreation,” she said.
The program serves youths from kindergarten through 12th grade, separated by age group. They will receive two meals a day — lunch and a snack — and work with community partners.
Inside the community center, learning stations sit alongside a check-in area where youths drop off their book bags. Laptops with internet access are available for homework and other assignments, and there are artistic and athletic stations, including space to build STEM projects with special kits.
One station is an entrepreneur program with a lemonade stand, where youths learn business principles and create their own lemonade flavors, Grant said.
Lamar Blankenship, who works at a Tampa elementary school, demonstrated the kits and other activities meant to build teamwork.
James Nastri of Brooksville is the club director and previously worked with Tampa elementary schools.
“It’s definitely a better distance for me,” he said of working closer to home. “I can do what I learned over there and bring it over here.”
The park itself has improved, said Chris Linsbeck, the community services director. At residents’ request in October 2023, it was renamed from Kennedy Park, with a ceremony in January 2024. The community center was upgraded, the playground is now ADA-compliant and the ballfields have new scoreboards.
Jason Jenkins, chief of staff, said it was a big day for the organization and that staff will be on site every day during the summer.
“We already have registration open, so we’ve been registering and communicating with families,” he said.
Coach Lorenzo Hamilton Sr. Park is at 899 Kennedy Blvd. in Brooksville. For more information and to register, go to bgctampa.org/hernandoinformation.