Evening star., 1939-08-20

AS hight DS ShpSIlSu, ilol Oil vi
these clubs are in particularly re-
spectacle category. Neither is every
thing that goes on in some of them to
be commended. There is good deal
of gambling, some immortality and
considerable amount of drinking.
Some of them, however, have a
serious program. One of these is the
Youth Opportunity Club. Negro
organization in Harlem. 1t has some
$50 members and maintains attractive
clubrooms. 1t has library of more
than ordinarily good books and
game room. 1t runs a lecture course
for its members and, from funds
raised by dances and dramatic shows,
contributes regularly to various Negro
charitable organizations.
An effort is now under way to estab-
lish an association of Cellar Clubs to
aid in lifting their general standards
and, in some instances, to provide
them with better quarters. This effort
is part of a drive tor better recrea-
tional facilities for New York youth
that is being conducted By young
members of the Recreation Commits
sion of the American Youth Congress-
New York City Council.
These young people - represent
ing the YM.C.A.. the Y.W.C.A., the
Trades Union Movement and large
number of other organizations that
include youth - made an exhaustive
survey of the recreational needs of
the young people of New York. They
found that although there we're 200
youth-serving agencies in the city,
they reached only about 25O.0OO of
the city's 1895, 600 sixteen to twenty
four yearold young people. The main
object of their current drive is to con-
vince the Board of Education that the
facilities of the public schools should
be made available as community
recreation centerS To this end they
are organizing neighborhood COM
mlttees throughout the city to bring
pressure to bear on the authorities.
Most of .he young people in this cam
paign are under twenty-five. but there
appears to be every likelihood that
they will get what they are after.
The work of New York's Council
is very much like that which the Rec
reation Commissions of the American
Youth Congress have carried on in
other parts of the country. The Coun-
Gil in Jersey City. New Jersey, when
its proposals were turned down by the
city authorities. took over the base
ment of large church, fitted it with
recreational equipment and opened
demonstration center Its success was
immediate and the skeptical city
officials were formally invited to in
spect it. The inspection was so salts
factory that their previous decision
against the plans was reversed.
Lansdale. Pennsylvania, similar
job has just been undertaken by the
Community Youth Alliance. This
unable to get the town
authorities to vote funds for adequate
facilities, undertook to
arouse the community. They began
with a careful study of the needs of
the town and the available facilities.
They wound up by asking for COM
munity recreational building That
request was turned down. Not to be
stopped, the officers of the Alliance
help from the National
Recreation Association. An NRA rep
appeared and, with his
help, a community recreational pro-
gram, to be run under the voluntary
of the members of the
Alliance, was adopted. The objective
is to make recreation so important to
Lansdale during this summer that the
town council next year will appoint
recreation commission, hire a recrea-
ton director and eventually, perhaps,
agree to recreation building