Selectmen Chair Judith Whiteside dramatically offered to support the Wareham Unit of the New Bedford Boys & Girls Club after hearing from Director Ken Fontes on Tuesday night.

Fontes appeared before Selectmen to say the club is struggling financially. He asked board members for fundraising ideas and to revamp the town-owned building’s exterior and an adjacent, town-owned playground.

The club, which currently serves between 75 and 80 kids, many of them from low-income families, offers after school and summer programs for a $40 monthly fee.

“If it’s $40 a month, that’s the cheapest deal in town,” said Whiteside. “That gives them a heated, safe space where they have adult supervision. There’s no price tag on that. It will close over my dead body.”

Fontes said his organization has made strides over the past year, particularly with the creation of a 21-member advisory board dedicated to assisting the club in a myriad of ways. Also, the club’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, held the day before, raised more than $6,000.

“We have people on the advisory committee out writing grants, but this is a difficult situation,” said Fontes. Part of the issue, Fontes said, was an increase in rent.

Previously, the club paid $1 a year to rent space, but when it moved to the former Hammond School on Highland Avenue, rent increased to $12,000 a year.

The club was awarded a 10-year lease of the building in 2013 by the School Committee and moved there from its former location on Viking Drive in the hopes of expanding its programs and giving kids access to a full playground. The building was later transferred from the School Department to the town.

The rent money collected through the leasing of the building is put into an account separate from both the town and the schools. The purpose of the account would be, in part, to maintain the building.

Fontes told Selectmen the building’s exterior could use a facelift.

“It just looks deplorable. Outside, it’s an eyesore,” said Fontes.

Also, he suggested adding a fenced-in play area in the front of the club and reaching out to the school department to increase membership.

Selectmen agreed that the club plays an important role for many kids in town with Whiteside offering her tutoring services and to sponsor some of the children financially.

“Mr. Fontes, you’ve now challenged us publicly and this board will aid in any way it can,” said Whiteside.