Video Project Shows 'Third World' Conditions at Laurel Boys and Girls Club

Two former members of the , now sophomores at Bowie State University, are hoping their school video project sheds light on what the club director calls deplorable conditions at the facility.

The video shows rotted walls and unmaintained rooms and bathrooms in a club said to have the largest membership in the state.

"In my opinion this is a crime and anyone that has walked this facility has sometimes been in near tears to see some of the Third World conditions that our children are forced to operate on," Levet Brown, the club's executive director, says in the video. "We need a government that’s going to be in place that’s actually going to come down and help our children."

Brown said the facility offers no after-school programs, which are badly needed in the area.

"Under this administration, our kids have suffered," he said.

Bowie State students Lenford Waxstaff and Darren Hanible said they hope their video project will inspire the community and local government to become more involved with the club. The two graduated from in 2010.

“We went back to the community to see how we can give back,” Waxstaff said.

The Laurel Boys and Girls Club was a during last year’s city election.

Candidates who were advocates of the club contended the city needed to do more to support the facility while city officials said they had already invested in youth programs.

Hanible said that he hoped the project would bridge local government and the community for the good of the club.

“Our mission is to bring together the community and government to save the Laurel Boys and Girls Club,” he said.

The club building, the home of Laurel High School until the 1960s, is the oldest in the city of Laurel, constructed in 1899. Brown said it was in disrepair when it became the Boys and Girls Club in 2002, and the club has struggled to maintain the building.

Despite its condition, club officials said it has the largest membership of any Boys and Girls Club in the state, with 2,300 members.