by Steve Brawner

Brad Glover doesn’t give a carefully rehearsed answer when asked why he volunteers his time with the Boys and Girls Club in Benton.
“I just feel the need to do it,” he said, admitting to a lack of eloquence or sentimentality. “I gotta do it, so that’s that.”

Maybe Glover’s motivations have something to do with the 300-350 young people who come to the club after school every day to learn, play and socialize rather than, in many cases, go home to empty, unsupervised homes. Or perhaps it is the 80 students last year who were at risk of failing in math or literacy who received intensive instruction in a computer lab. Or it’s the hundreds more who participate in sports activities.

In all, the club serves 1,303 active members – a number it couldn’t hope to reach without Glover and hundreds of other volunteers.

“Kids receive a lot here that they may or may not receive at home,” he said. “This is a kind of a safe haven for a bunch of the kids.”

Glover, a commercial electric contractor and owner of Brad Glover Electric, was a member of the club as a boy. He became involved as an adult when he wired the newly constructed gym in 1996 and was asked to join the board of directors about a year later. He became president, an office he still holds, a few years after that.

Serving as president involves a lot more than attending monthly meetings. Glover discusses club business with the executive director, Jasen Kelly, three or four times a week. He also raises money and solicits community support. And he donates time, materials and labor to ensure the club is properly wired and lit. He’s currently lighting the soccer field, which will double as a practice field for the Benton High School Panthers football team this year.

Glover tries to volunteer at the club when it’s bustling with young people after school. “It’s just organized chaos,” he said. “Everybody in the community who gives to the Boys and Girls Club should come down here and see (it) at least once.”

Glover’s children are also involved. His son, Cole, who played sports there as a boy, now volunteers and works part-time at the club, and his daughter, Carly, teaches a gymnastics class.

Despite the time and expenses involved, Glover has no plans to stop being president. He’s inspired by the club’s many success stories and can’t imagine the community without it.

“I’ll do it as long as they have me doing it. … Like I said, I couldn’t imagine not doing it at this point,” he said. “It’s like a bad habit – can’t shake it.

“It’s great. I think that anybody that gets really involved in it would feel the same way. I mean, my gosh, you just think about the kids involved in it – you know, one event with a certain kid that will stick in your mind every year. It keeps you going.”