In November, the Boys and Girls Club of North San Luis Obispo County announced that because funding from certain grants fell through, the youth club was in dire need of money in order to keep its doors open and its services up and running.

On Tuesday, Dining With André owners André and Christina Averseng unveiled its Houses for Happiness project, a benefit for the Boys and Girls Club. The Aversengs, with the help of volunteers in the community, crafted 20 gingerbread houses to create a completely edible gingerbread village. The public can bid on any or all of the 20 houses, with all of the funds collected to be turned over to the Boys and Girls club in the continued effort to fund the youth center.

The gingerbread village is currently on display in Rabobank, located at 845 Spring St., through today. The village will move to Heritage Oaks Bank, 1310 Las Tablas, on Monday, Dec. 10, before moving to Santa Lucia Bank, 1240 Spring St., on Sunday, Dec. 16. The final day of bidding is Wednesday, Dec. 19.

The local Boys and Girls Club serves between 80 to 100 children every day, providing a safe place for them to go after school, said Sue Daniels, the club’s chief professional officer. The youth facility offers leadership and training to the kids in their care, help with homework, as well as art, dance, drama and sports programs, just to name a few.

The organization required $50,000 of emergency funding to keep its door open for the remainder of the year. Thanks to the generosity of the community, the Boys and Girls Club has reached that goal, ensuring that the club with stay open at least until the end of December, Daniels said.

If the Boys and Girls Club had been forced to close its doors, it would have really left a hole in the community, she said.

“I don’t where 80 to 100 kids would go everyday,” Daniels said.

Ultimately, Daniels said she was overwhelmed by the amount of support that the youth club received.

“I was really happy the community was willing to come forth and help out so much,” she said. “We are continuing it — we are continuing to do the fundraising and hope that the community continues to keep the club alive.”

While the club has garnered enough donations to keep the youth center open through the holiday season, Daniels said that money from expected grants will not get to the club until April of 2008.

“The grants are out there, it is just a long, tedious process because you apply and then it takes several months to hear, and then they might not sign them for an entire year,” she said. “That is what makes it so hard — that the funding can take a whole year.”

Continued fundraising efforts, like Houses for Happiness, will act as relief funding, allowing the club to keep its doors open until the grant money arrives in April, Daniels said.

Christina called her husband, “the soul” behind the Houses for Happiness project after he came up with the idea of creating the Gingerbread village.

“When we realized that the Boys and Girls club was in trouble, we thought that this would really be a project that would best be a benefit to the community,” Christina said.

André emphasized that the project and the cause were a perfect match for each other.

“It is so perfect for the spirit of the time because we are dealing with kids,” he said. “We need to help those kids. We don’t want them to be on the streets, we need to ensure that they are looking at the future with hope.”

The massive undertaking required 150 pounds of gingerbread dough and 100 pounds of icing, which were prepared and donated by the Dining with André owners and staff. Pre-cut plywood bases for the gingerbread creations were donated by Tom and Sherrie Domingos, and Rose & Violet’s Victorian Tea contributed the design templates for the edible houses. In addition, Powell’s Sweet Shoppe donated more than 40 pounds of bulk and wrapped candy items to the cause.

“What goes better with gingerbread houses than candy?” asked Steve Goodwin, co-owner of Powell’s Sweet Shoppe. “It is very funny, because I had made a little one at home for my granddaughter — just a little one — and I knew how much work was involved, so when he asked me to participate, of course, I said ‘Yes.’”

Andre prepared, cut and assembled the gingerbread houses and then invited others to decorate the pieces. He emphasized that the undertaking was really a community effort, with volunteers from all age groups and from all different walks of life crafting an individualized and unique gingerbread house.

Christina said that everyone from a 9-year-old girl to Mayor Pro-Tem Gary Nemeth decorated a house for the charitable cause.

“The main thing was to have the people of the community to come together and really participate,” André said.

The gingerbread houses are as varied as each of the project’s participants; some of the creations represented a very traditional take on the gingerbread house and others, like a piece entitled, “California Christmas,” add a more modern slant to the village.

“They are unique houses, they are like a work of art,” Andre said.

Christina agreed.

“Each one of them is so different, and this is all based on someone’s idea in their mind,” she said.

Already, Houses for Happiness has secured donations for the ailing club. The Paso Robles Food-4-Less donated $10,000 and a community member has committed to bidding $2,000 for one of the houses in the village. The Aversengs are challenging the banks that host the gingerbread creations to match the total bid. Christina said that she hopes the project will bring in as much as $25,000 for the youth club.

All participants in the project agreed that this community really raises the bar when it comes to supporting causes that benefit the their city, and they have high hopes for the project.

“What is really gratifying for us, coming from Los Angeles, is that, yet again — it has happened to us so many times in Paso Robles — the community has bonded together, and they are helping one of their own,” Christina said.

“It is done by the community for the community,” Andre said.

If the event is successful, the Aversengs hope to continue on with the project.

“What we are hoping to do it and set a precedent for each year to have this building of the village, maybe not for the same charity but for someone who is in need,” Christina said. “It is a great thing, because there are not many communities that have that spirit. I am hoping that everyone who comes by will bid.”



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