TAG Centre offers community spirit for young people

The TAG Teen Centre is a home away from home for about 30 students from Westmount High School who regularly participate in its various activities. According to Lesniak, many of the teens come from homes where they are not given the resources to truly succeed.

The director of the teen centre, Marianne Knai, agrees wholeheartedly with that statement. “The reality is that they have difficult home lives and need something to do in the afternoons that is not illegal.”

The environment in warm and inviting; the TAG Centre offer a quiet place to do homework, and there are even volunteers on hand to offer help. Computers are available for Internet access, as well as a wide array of games.

Lesniak and the other volunteers have arranged various activities for the teens in order to give them something to look forward to. Not only do they play sports with the kids, but Lesniak recently arranged for a DJ event one evening, where the teens got to become DJs and test out the equipment. Also, the volunteers put on pizza parties and movie nights.

But the centre needs help, and that is where Lesniak is making his plea.

“We were looking to create an environment to build confidence and to bring awareness to the centre and what it’s doing,” Lesniak said of himself and his two friends who took on the project.

TAG, as it is known to the teens that frequent the centre, runs partially on funding from the City — as it is part of the Sports & Recreation Department — and partially on donations. Without the additional support of donations, the centre would be unable to offer the same services, and the teens would inevitably feel the difference.

TAG hosts an annual local hockey tournament, where members raise around $3,500. In the summer, they hold a St. Jean Baptiste barbecue as well as car washes.

Knai stresses that the centre could not run without donations. They will take anything from used sports equipment to food, to clothing. Every little bit of charity will help.

Lesniak is trying to do his part. He will begin to recruit new volunteers from the McGill campus come January, in hopes that by getting the name out at the student level, awareness will spread.

TAG has become a part of Lesniak’s life, as it is for many of the teens who call it home. TAG has true community spirit, and Lesniak believes that it deserves recognition.

The centre is open seven days a week. Monday through Fridays, teens can drop in from 3 p.m. and most stay until the centre closes at 9 p.m. Saturdays, the centre offers extended hours, from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. Sundays they are open between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. The centre is on Ste. Catherine St. W., at the Westmount arena.