SOAP LAKE — Perry McClellan wants the Soap Lake Community Center to be a place where people gather to enjoy events and time with one another.

McClellan, who serves as the center’s director, said he’s aware that there aren’t enough seniors participating in events at the center to really utilize the facility to its full potential. As a result, he and his team of volunteers are working to make sure that the community knows everyone is welcome to walk through the nonprofit’s doors and enjoy time with neighbors from around the area. 

“For example, we make the facility available for city council meetings, community meetings (and) committee meetings. Other nonprofit organizations meet here, some on a monthly basis and some more frequently,” he said. 

One of those is the Youth Empowerment Program, a local group that works to have art projects and performing arts events. 

Another example is when the community center hosts bazaars a few times a year to allow local craftspeople to network and sell their handmade goods. The bazaars, he said, are part of how the center supports the arts. There is also support offered for Soap Lake’s upcoming Creative District that the city is working to establish. 

“And so, what that has done is that has driven us to go from about 200 visits and maybe 20 events a month to more like 45 events,” McClellan said. “We’re now hitting over 700 visits a month, so we have a lot more people coming through and participating in things or just coming in for food or other special interests.” 

With that increased traffic comes a need for a bit more administration and more volunteers.

McClellan said the expansion of the programs has him doing more to deal with the overall administration of the facility and he could use more help, especially in the form of a volunteer coordinator to help make sure events are organized and the building is maintained properly. 

“It would be wonderful if we could find someone who could devote themselves to organizing and working with volunteers because that's something that is becoming increasingly difficult for me to do because there's more and more administrative overhead to maintaining the organization and paying the employees and all that sort of thing and I can't do everything,” he said.

Keeping the growth positive and ensuring Soap Lake gets the most out of its community center is important to McClellan. He said he feels as though the expanded activities will help the community come together and allow bridging between different age groups through activities at the venue and volunteering. 

“We now have potentially a wider utility in the community and we’re hoping that will involve more people and younger people coming here and helping us maintain the place,” he said. 

The center is open to hosting additional events. It’s just a matter of scheduling and coordinating so the venue isn’t overbooked and staff and volunteers are available to keep things flowing smoothly, he said.  

“We have limited opportunities for volunteers to come in and participate in hosting and maintain hosting events and maintaining the facility, cleaning and other kinds of simple tasks,” he said. 

While the tasks may be simple, they’re important for the nonprofit to function. 

He’d also like to expand outreach options to ensure people know the Soap Lake Community and Senior Center is there to support them. Whether it’s meals, an open mic night, club meetings or making sure new people or those who feel stuck at home have a place to go — it’s all about community. 

“We really would like to encourage more people to do fun things with people that they would like to spend time with, he said. “And this is one of the places we can make available for that purpose.”