The Bob Burdette Center, Inc. (BBC, or the Center) is an after-school program that serves West Side children in grades K-5. It presently operates at four sites – Edgewood Elementary, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary, and North Charleston Community Center.
The program began in 1996 as the James Paige Learning Center and operated successfully under that name for two years. Much of the impetus for the program’s inception came at the urging of Rev. Bob Burdette, for whom the present Center is named. Rev. Burdette was the Associate Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church from 1986 until 1995. It was his long-time vision to see an after-school program opened at the church to serve the children of the West side community.
In 1998, when the James Paige Learning Center was threatened with closure due to the lack of funding, the Emmanuel Baptist Church, realizing the devastating effect of such a closure, voted to organize and support a new non-profit organization to be named the Bob Burdette Center, Inc. Thus, the Center continued operation without interruption.
In the beginning, the Bob Burdette Center served twenty children (grades K-5) from Tiskelwah Elementary School. Since then, the Center has expanded and now serves over 120 children in grades K through 5 from the West side and North Charleston.
The program provides a safe haven and enrichment opportunities for children who might otherwise go unsupervised after school. Its overwhelming success emphasizes the need for after-school programming on the West side. The Bob Burdette Center is making a difference in the lives of children and families.
The Bob Burdette Center receives operating revenues from a combination of federal and state grant funding and contributions from foundations, churches, individuals, volunteers, and businesses.