Casino Night Fundraiser Aims To Support BSAC Mission

For decades the on Beverly Boulevard has engaged the Greater Brandon community in sport and fitness activities, first as a business and more recently as a nonprofit organization.

A serious mission underlies the staff's drive to promote programming and activities that meet the needs of the individual — from novice to Olympian hopeful — and for families of all income levels.

As Chuck Burgess, the executive director of the facility, once described that mission: “We don’t want any kids to be left out.”

Toward that end, the group hosts an annual Saddles N' Spurs Casino Night Fundraiser, which this year is scheduled for Feb. 25 at the Barn Theatre at Winthrop, at 11349 Bloomingdale Ave. in Riverview, between Watson and Providence roads.

Western attire is encouraged and all proceeds will go toward scholarships and youth programming at the center.

Founded in 1963 as the family owned, for-profit Brandon Swim and Tennis Club, the club became a center in 2004, buoyed by a reorganization that established the center’s non-profit status and more sweeping community mission.

“I want to keep the past in the past and focus on where we’re going,” Burgess has said. “We have high-level athletes that go to the Olympics and high-caliber athletics but just as important is what we’re doing for every kid regardless of ability, socioeconomic status, background and ethnicity.”

“We want to impact kids in families with both parents working, or where single moms or single dads are struggling with their time,” Burgess said. “We provide after-school sports, arts and crafts, cooking, music, a Wii room, an arcade.”

Moreover, Burgess said, the center is rich in tradition.

“You go around the community and a lot of people will tell you they grew up here at the center,” Burgess said. “They’re bringing their kids and their grandkids here now. We have this legacy of these great things we do and our future will build upon that.”

In addition to its own membership, the BSAC offers its facilities to other local groups and organizations that service the needs of kids, such as A Kid’s Place in Brandon, the Bill Carey Unit of the Boys & Girls Club of Brandon, area schools and churches, youth ministry programs, scouting troops and the Best Buddies program and youth initiatives through the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

BSAC offers after-school programming for area schools and the center also serves as a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) site. Hundreds of kids attend the center's weekly summer camp.

Tickets for the fundraiser cost $60 for couples and $35 for individuals. Included is one drink per person, food and $50 worth of gambling chips. There also will be silent and live auctions.

For tickets, contact Lori Bukaweski, associate executive director, at 813-689-0908.