Joe Imel/Daily NewsAttendees at the State of the Hood Address dance during the program Monday. Dozens of students and a handful of their parents and guardians attended the State of the Hood Address Monday at the Boys and Girls Club, Inc. The event was sponsored by Lee Turner Ministries & Company and featured motivational speakers, music, a visit by Bowling Green Mayor Elaine Walker and two informational booths.

Repeating after the Rev. Lee Turner, children at the Boys & Girls Club on Monday yelled loudly – their voices vibrating off the gym walls – “I am great … get with me or get left because I’m on my way to be the best.”

The club’s gym was filled with children and parents Monday as Lee Turner Ministries & Company helped kick off the State of the Hood Address, which will be an ongoing discussion to address the needs of families and youth in deprived neighborhoods. And the first need Turner addressed was the need for volunteers to help with mentoring and tutoring at the club.

“Today I’m going to lay out an initiative to support the staff here,” he said. “They don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We want consistency, because children learn not to trust changing faces … we’re here to be accountable to this community.”

Turner started the project at the Boys & Girls Club of Franklin-Simpson County and is now bringing it to the Boys & Girls Club in Bowling Green. He said he has Western Kentucky University students and others of credible backgrounds who are willing to come into the Boys & Girls Club two days a week to support the staff.

“We welcome any community support … I think this is a good opportunity,” said Pam McIntyre, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club. “It’s just another example of how the community is trying to support us.”

McIntyre said the biggest issue the club has is getting volunteers to help with tutoring and mentoring, and Turner’s initiative will help alleviate that.

Turner said the idea for the State of the Hood Address came after watching President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address.

“No one is talking about what’s happening in our communities,” he said. “These kids need to know they are worth more than where they come from or what they have.”

The evening included music provided by a DJ, so kids could dance around. There were also giveaways for the children and the adults, including baskets filled with food items like spaghetti noodles and pasta sauce. The kids also played a version of the game Simon Says led by Lonnie Winston, administrative assistant to Turner.

“It’s important to have goals in life, no matter how little, how big you are,” Winston said. “And it’s always important to take pride in yourself and your community.”

Mayor Elaine Walker said the goal for the future of Bowling Green is to make it a better place and a symbol of that future is the children.

“We are depending on you to be productive citizens of our community,” she said. “You have different talents, unique abilities and we want you all to be an involved part of the community … this shows people believe in you and want you to do great things.”

Walker said the community has to come together to raise quality citizens.

Turner said he is soliciting political and economic help so people in the community can be accountable for the future of the children in that community. He said working with the Boys & Girls Club is their way into the community.

“So as we face issues, we can connect people in this community to other agencies within the community that can help,” he said. “We become the broker, giving resources to the people. We don’t just want to do a march and sing ‘We Shall Overcome.’ Skip that. It’s time to stop commemorating dead relics and let’s make truth the dream, and be visible in our communities. We need to challenge them to see a world beyond Bowling Green.”