Organizational Overview - 2019
In the fall of 2010, the Garner Police Department was approached and asked to play a leading role in the development of a community-based program that could provide services and support to at-risk youth in our community and in our schools. Recognizing this as a unique opportunity to provide additional support to our community, we immediately began development of the Garner Police Athletic Activities League, or Garner “PAAL.”
A Board of Directors was recruited and early in 2011 officers were elected and a Constitution and By-Laws were developed and adopted. We also subsequently were approved as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Garner PAAL then developed a mission statement and values and began working toward the implementation of programming to begin fulfilling that mission.
Since the creation of Garner PAAL, we have developed several school-based programs, we have partnered to integrate PAAL into an existing after-school program, and we have assumed responsibility for the Police “Explorer Post”; the following is a summary of our programs as of the 2018-2019 school year:
- PAAL hosts weekly after-school clubs of approximately one hundred students at East Garner Magnet Middle School and at North Garner Middle School. The PAAL clubs provide academic support, intramurals sports, field trips, and other activities such as campus beautification.
- PAAL has implemented bi-weekly school-based programs at all seven Garner Elementary Schools – including Aversboro, Bryan Road, Creech Road, East Garner, Rand Road, Timber Drive, and Vandora Springs Elementary Schools. Officers and PAAL Volunteers collaborate with school staff to provide support to approximately ten at-risk students at each school.
- PAAL is partnering with Pride Boxing in the Forest Hills Shopping Center to provide opportunities for several of our PAAL youth to participate in an organized boxing training program. These students are selected based on PAAL participation and a recommendation from the PAAL advisor.
- Beginning in fall 2019 we will be offering a structured curriculum through a partnership with the Wake County School System; these lessons will be based around topics such as bullying, gangs, Internet safety, positive decision-making, and teamwork and will be available for use with our elementary students.
We continue to be a partner with Youth Thrive of Wake County; Youth Thrive is the home of the Youth Thrive Network, an avenue to receive training and technical assistance to help those helping our young people. PAAL also partners with Garner United Methodist Church to co-host an annual “Back to School Bash” in August that provides school supplies and a day of fun and games to at-risk Garner area youth.
In October we will be hosting our annual golf tournament fundraiser with Moon Runners Restaurant as our primary sponsor. More information on the golf tournament and our PAAL program can be found on the PAAL website at www.garnerpaal.org. You can also follow us on Twitter; we are @GarnerPAAL.
We are looking for volunteers and for Advisory Board members – if you are interested or would like more information, please contact Mrs. Kathy Taylor at [email protected] or (919) 772-8810 x6970.