Members of the community spent Tuesday evening celebrating the continued success of the Boys and Girls Club of East Mississippi.

To begin its annual fundraiser, the organization held an open house instead of its usual dinner. Executive Director Ricky Hood said they decided to have an open house as a way to show the community what they do on a daily basis.

Hood said the event also allowed the community to hear success stories from the Boys and Girls Club, One of those stories was told by Toto Emerson, who now works for the agency.

As a child, Emerson would look out his window at Frank Berry Courts in Meridian watching the  burgundy Boys and Girls Club van pass by. One day, Hood knocked on his door, and his life changed.  

“The Boys and Girls Club opened my eyes to see more things than Meridian,” Emerson recalled. 

Emerson said if it wasn’t for the Boys and Girls Club, he would not have gone to college. The club created a safe haven, kept him off the street, took him to new places and helped him make new friends.

“The Boys and Girls Club is not a daycare, but we actually change lives on a day-to-day basis,”  Emerson emphasized. 

Anthony Brown, 35, has a similar success story. After seeing his sister go on field trips with the Boys and Girls Club, he joined when he was 14. Brown said Hood helped to fill a void in his life by becoming a father figure, taking him on his first road trip to Six Flags over Georgia.

Brown now works as the unit director for the Boys and Girls Club at the Velma Young Community Center, where he helps kids with similar experiences.

“When I see a lot of kids, I see myself,” said Brown.

Courtney Bell, who grew up with eight brothers and sisters in Eastern Gardens, started coming to the club when he was 10 years old, and got his first job working there when he was 16. Now serving in the  U.S. Air Force, Bell said he makes sure to support a Boys and Girls Club wherever he goes.

Erica Bell, 17, has been part of the club since she was four. She said it has helped her in achieving her goal in becoming a traveling nurse. Growing up in a house with five other siblings, she has a chance to now help her mom.

“I still want to be able to give her what she needs,” said Bell.