Evans ready to be part of the community

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Donald H. Evans, new chief professional officer at the Oprah Winfrey Boys & Girls Club in Kosciusko, stands beside the club’s sign on Knox Road. Evans, who has more than 20 years experience in the Boys & Girls Club organizations, says he looks forward to becoming part of the community. Leslie N. Dees

February 7, 2013

Evans ready to be part of the community

By Leslie N. Dees CNHI The Star Herald Thu Feb 07, 2013, 08:25 PM CST

KOSCIUSKO — Donald Evans has helped a lot of children for more than 20 years through the Boys & Girls Clubs organization and he will continue to help children right here in Kosciusko and Attala County as the chief professional officer of the Oprah Winfrey Boys & Girls Club.

The program works

“I know that this program is working,” Evans, who has been in Kosciusko since January 21, said. “I want to make sure that club is always seen as a positive place.

After about two years with the organization in metro Atlanta, Evans said he became the unit director of a club located within public housing.

“It was one of the largest public housing in the United States. Everything that was going on for anybody that looked from the outside was negative,” he said.

Evans said he would hear that the kids were hopeless and they would never achieve anything as they were surrounded by violence and drugs.

“I saw a totally different picture. I saw caring individuals who really cared about their children. I saw children that cared about their future and they weren’t looking for a handout.”

A promise made

It was there that he made a promise to an 8-year-old girl.

“The first question she asked me was – How long are you going to be here? – because in her life, people stay a certain time and they leave about two to three years,” he said.

“I told her I’m going to be here until you graduate,” Evans said. “When she graduated, I was the second face she saw and she gave me a big hug.

That tells me that no matter where you are from that this program can work as long as you are given an opportunity and a chance.”

He said he is still in contact with her today.

Brick and mortar

While the OWB&G Club is very nice both inside and out, that’s not what brought Evans to Kosciusko.

“What really draws me to Kosciusko is the children and the parents that we are serving,” he said.

Evans recalls how excited everyone was as he came through the glass doors even though they didn’t know who he was.

“I knew I was in the right place,” he said. “Brick and mortar is just brick and mortar.

When you can come in and help and influence and mold a young person – That’s the most important thing for me.”

He added that he was thrilled to be here and ready to work with the community.

“This is just a brick and mortar building,” he said of the OWB&G Club. “We (the community) are in the process of building a building another brick and mortar building – the jail. Which would you rather invest in?”

“I want to make sure that the club is not for just one particular gender or race,” he said. “It’s for everybody. I want to make sure my staff reflects that.”

Evans said he wants to make sure that the club is not just in the community but also a part of the community as well.

“For me personally, I definitely want to be involved in the community,” he said.

Evans has been working with the Boys & Girls Club organization since 1985 and has worked in Georgia and South Carolina from a program director to CPO to an area director.

Evans and his wife, Jerilynn, have six children, Desiray, Dominique, Chemaine, Iman, Michael and Steven, and seven grandchildren.

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