By Maddy Vitale
Alicia Stauffer, of Ocean City, couldn’t wait to get to the Ocean City Tabernacle to pick up her daughter, Brielle.
When Brielle, 8, a second-grade student at the Primary School saw her mom, she ran up and hugged her. In one hand she held a lollipop. In the other, the smiling blue-eyed girl held a pen.
Brielle is one of the members of the Son Club at Tabernacle, held in the Kull Center. It is an open and free aftercare program for students from kindergarten through eighth grade.
During the school year from Monday through Friday, volunteers and staff provide tutoring, snacks, Bible lessons, games, enrichment and life skills classes for local students.
“I’m a librarian at the Arthur Rann school in Galloway,” Stauffer said as she signed out her daughter on Thursday, Feb. 21. “It is super convenient. She loves the Son Club. We are new to the island, so this is our first school year here.”
Brielle attends the Son Club three days a week.
“They walk her here,” Stauffer said of the staffers who pick up the children from the Primary School across the street. “It is safe and she is so happy.”
Her favorite part of Son Club is simple.
“I love the bookmobile,” Brielle said with a smile.
Pastor Jay Reimer, the CEO of the Tabernacle, said the program is made possible, in part, through the generous donations of individuals, businesses and organizations.
To donate go to www.octabernacle.org/giving-back/son-club-fundraiser/
Reimer said the Son Club is a place that is beneficial for both parents and their children.
He likes to think of it as Christian Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
“The parents can stay at work or have some time to do what they need to do while the children are here. They are safe,” Reimer explained. “The kids can burn off some steam by playing basketball or video games or other activities.”
When the children are picked up, between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., their time with families becomes more meaningful, Reimer noted.
“They could have more family time. The Son Club serves the community well. It allows better time for families. The kids get help with their homework,” Reimer said. “They already had their video time. They had Bible lessons. And they make friends.”
Colin Thompson, 11, a sixth-grade student, had just finished a game of basketball and was heading up the stairs for a Bible lesson, when he said, “I like playing basketball the best. I also really like the people here.”
The program also helps parents who can’t always get home from work by the time school lets out.
When Noelia Dobles and her family moved to Ocean City from New York City this past year, she wasn’t sure what she would do for aftercare for her 13-year-old daughter, Lilliana Johnson.
Then she found out about Son Club and enrolled Lilliana.
“It is an incredible program,” Dobles said. “We had nothing like this in New York. Lilliana is cared for. She gets help with her homework. She is making friends.”
Lilliana showed her mother the work of art she created at Son Club just hours before.
“That is really beautiful,” Dobles told her daughter and then put her arm around her.
Lilliana said she likes the teachers at Son Club the most.
“They are nice,” she said.
Reimer said the program would not be possible without the wonderful, caring staff and volunteers at Ocean City Tabernacle.
Jonathan Gonzalez, 32, is perhaps at the top of that list. He had a difficult upbringing and a car accident nearly killed him years back.
Gonzalez found his mission in life and not only works at Tabernacle in a supervisory role, but is also a youth minister at a church in Egg Harbor Township.
He has found a love of teaching Bible lessons to middle school students who come to Son Club.
Gonzalez conducts his lessons in the “Epic” room. A name given to the area set aside in the Kull Center for the older kids, with furnishings and décor selected, in part, by the children.
Jasmine Forster, 13, recently moved to Ocean City from Clayton. She quietly sat in an area of the Epic room and drew a picture.
“I love to draw,” Jasmine said. “I like that I could come in here and do what I like.”
Gonzalez said it is all about reaching the kids.
“It is also about family members and neighbors,” Gonzalez said. “There is a great vibe here. The kids are looking for a place they can come. A space that they created, that they feel comfortable in.”
He added, “Sometimes kids have good days and sometimes they have bad days. It is all about building a solid relationship with them. We want to keep them out of trouble and build a relationship with God.”
During a Bible lesson, students interacted with Gonzalez, read some scripture and discussed it with him. They intently listened to his words about the day’s lesson about correction.
“Don’t run from correction,” he told the group. “I want people to hold me accountable. Be willing to accept when you are in err.”
In addition to Gonzalez, there is a host of other staff members and volunteers who create the Son Club and lifetime memories for the children, Reimer pointed out.
There is a retired music teacher, David Knauss, who helps students with their music lessons. Noah Pratt, 21, and his girlfriend, Mahogany Mays, 20, have been volunteering because they say they believe in the program.
Corrie Stevenson, 24, handles a lot of the events. Her sister, Jessica Stevenson, 29, likes to give the kids Bible lessons.
Many of the volunteers come from religious backgrounds or are interested in becoming a minister.
Pratt’s father is a pastor in Pleasantville.
Pratt, who is studying engineering at Rowan University, said he likes to help the older kids with their homework.
“I think of myself like a Big Brother,” he noted. “I want to help them solve problems.”
He also likes playing sports with them, football, baseball and soccer.
“I play whatever they like,” Pratt said. “This is for the children.”
The Ocean City Tabernacle is located at 550 Wesley Ave. For more information call 609-399-1915 or visit www.octabernacle.org
