Last year when Ken Fontes took the helm of the Wareham Boys & Girls Club as its new director, he had a singular goal in mind in his mission to take the club to "the next level."

"One of the first things I said was, 'we need to find a bigger building,'" said Fontes.

Since moving from a small Wareham recreation center into the former Ethel E. Hammond Elementary school in Onset last year, the club's membership has tripled to over 150 children.

"We've never had that amount," said Fontes, who hopes to add another 75 members and would ideally see the club's membership at 300. "Since moving here we've been able to offer so much more to the kids."

Fontes, who took the job as director after working for NSTAR for thirty years, says the new building is a key part of what has caused membership to skyrocket.

"It's the new location, one, and also I think because we're trying different things, we're trying to add more programs," he said. "There were really limitations with what they could do in the Wareham building, so I think it's moving to a location that allows us to have more kids and offer them more."

"I like coming here because I get to hang out with my friends and I get to party," said Cailyse Blake, 9. "And I get to hang out with my best friend, Ally."

"You know how some people don't like their job?" asked 21 year-old Ally Watkins, Cailyse's counselor. "I love coming here. I look forward to it."

"They make me feel young again!" she added with a laugh.

The Wareham club offers an after school program and a nine week summer program. The after school program has an academic focus, including a homework "Power Hour," while the summer program is more focused on the other two tenants of the club's "Triple Play" philosophy, which nurtures mind, body, and soul.

"The mind is the homework part, the body is the physical activities," said Fontes. "For the soul part we have guest speakers come in all the time, talking to the kids about right choices."

Soul-oriented programs include an all-girls program focused on good decision-making, counseling with Taber Academy and Mass Maritime students, and a program called "Junior Achievement," which brings in business professionals to teach the kids about the value of money and saving dollars.

"When you think of the Boys and Girls Club, what do you think about?" asked Bristol Country Savings Bank Vice-President and Boys & Girls Club Board President Andy Springer. "What you hear out there," he said, gesturing to a basketball court, "kids running around playing basketball and playing games. Well, we have after school programs where kids get help with their homework."

Springer added that many people are often surprised to learn of the suite of activities that the club offers.

"We have a lot of programs and services at the Boys and Girls Club," he said."Our mission is to give everyone an equal opportunity to be a caring and responsible adult. A lot of kids don't have everything working in their favor, so they need somebody to help set up programs and services to help give them an equal chance."

In terms of what the club needs going forward, both Fontes and Springer say that monetary support from the community is critical, in addition to volunteers.

"It's kind of sad that that's it," said Springer, referring to the club's financial needs, "but that is it."

The club's recent annual installment of the Kukoo Gala, which saw several hand-made bird houses auctioned off, raised a record $51,000 (at least that's what they've counted so far), which the club is hoping will climb to $60,000 next year.

Fontes says that support from businesses is critical, and that down the road the entire town can benefit from investing in the club, which is a vital part of the town's overall image.

"From the business standpoint," said Fontes, "the businesses feed off of the town and vice-versa. So if the businesses are contributing, if we have a successful Boys and Girls Club, we have a state-of-the-art YMCA, if we see improvement in the schools, we'll have people say, 'I want to go to Wareham. They have a Boys and Girls Club, they have a YMCA, and the schools are improving.'"

Resource Development Director Russ Buckley says he expects the community to be generous in helping the club, partly due to the great support the YMCA received when it needed money to be built.

"The Boys and Girls Club is a little less well-known, he said. "It hasn't been around as long and of course now we've moved to a new location. But we think there's going to be more support from the community, rather than less."

So what's next for the club? Fontes and the board are hoping to expand operations to match the New Bedford branch. This would include expanding the served age range from 7-13 to 7-17 and keeping the club open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. instead of closing at 6.

"We're going towards that next level," said Fontes, "but we're not there yet."

"We've got a long way to go," he added with a smile.