"Girard College" Rescues Creative Steps Kids Group !

Good News about the Philadelphia Pool story:

Valley Swim Club-Huntingdon Valley: Are Racism Allegations Fair?

by Tina Kells | July 9, 2009 at 03:46 pm

An investigation is underway, "US senator Arlen Specter announced plans to launch a discrimination investigation against The Valley Swim Club, in suburban Philadelphia, PA."

*** x-reference: http://www.thevalleyclub.com

and "Girard College boarding school offered their pool to the Creative Steps kids, and local ice cream parlor Gumdrops & Sprinkles gave the day camp a party of candy and ice cream making for free."

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/valley-swim-club-huntingdon-valley-are-racism-allegations-fair

http://www.girardcollege.com

In addition, since the incident was first reported, there has been an outpouring of support for the Creative Kids Day Camp. In this regard, please see:

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/day-camp-director-overwhelmed-offers-support-her-kids

*** Full Disclosure/Statement from The Valley Club on their website:

"The Valley Club is deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism which are completely untrue.

We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. All funds were returned to the camps and we will re-evaluate the issue at a later date to determine whether it can be feasible in the future.

Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any form, as is evidenced by our multi-ethnic and diverse membership. Whatever comments may or may not have been made by an individual member is an opinion not shared by The Valley Club Board."

Comment: The Valley Club's position has continued to change from (1) an initial return of the money paid by the Creative Steps" group without explanation; followed by (2) that their group was deemed unacceptable to the Valley Club because, and I quote, it would change the "complexion" of the club; and finally (3) that the Creative Steps group was denied access to the club pool facilities for reasons of "safety".

*** In any case, God Bless "Girard College" for stepping up immediately upon hearing of this incident and offering its pool to the "Creative Steps" kids group.