This week’s Youth of the Year luncheon reinforced the need for organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Nash/Edgecombe Counties.

Destiny Styles, 16, shared her story about how the youth outreach program helped her overcome a childhood rape that gave rise to anger and frustration.

Now she is on track to graduate from Rocky Mount High School and hopes to study to learn veterinary medicine at college. That is much the same way the clubs helped other youth through major events in their own lives.

“Boys & Girls Club offered so many opportunities for me and my family,” nominee Alexus Farmer said at the luncheon. “It also put a mark on my heart, and I will never forget the Boys & Girls Club as long as I live.”

Nominee Rosella Campbell said the organization helped bring the shy teenager out of her shell and learn to express herself.

It’s stories like these that motivated the Nash County commissioners to give the Boys & Girls Clubs of Nash/Edgecombe Counties a one-time gift of $15,000. The group requested $20,000 from both counties to help offset a $127,000 budget deficit.

The shortfall comes from cuts in grant funding and delays in state and federal funding payments, said Doug Starr, a member of the club’s board of directors.

Still, it should be clear to everyone involved that gifts from local governments are no long-term solution and should not be counted on in the future. Especially when help for more than 5,000 local youth each year hangs in the balance.

Officials said the clubs have begun cost cutting measures, but other forms of support need to be considered. A public outreach likely would find support, even in these difficult times. Let’s not give up on ways to help our area youth.