VENTURA : Jamaal Wilkes to aid Boys & Girls Club

Former UCLA and Laker basketball star Jamaal Keith Wilkes has agreed to serve as honorary chairman of a fund-raising campaign aimed at renovating the aging Boys & Girls Club in West Ventura, officials said.

Wilkes is a former Ventura resident and an alumnus of the Boys & Girls Club at 1440 N. Olive St., club president Joe Carmody said.

Wilkes is not able to attend the fund-raising campaign’s kickoff event, a pancake breakfast scheduled for 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, club officials said. But they said he will visit Ventura in the coming months to help meet the campaign’s goal of raising $750,000.

Admission to the breakfast is $5 for adults and $2.50 for children under 12. It will be held at the Olive Street club.

The 25-year-old building will undergo a major face lift, including getting a new roof and a fresh coat of paint, organizers said. The money will also be used to add an outdoor basketball court, a patio, a picnic area and bike racks.

The gymnasium will get a new wooden floor, a scoreboard, bleachers, backboards and a new heating system, officials said.

Wilkes was chosen as honorary chairman because of his high profile and his commitment to youth, Carmody said.

After starring at UCLA, Wilkes had a 12-year career in the National Basketball Assn., as a forward with both the Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Now a Los Angeles businessman, Wilkes has used his fame to help disadvantaged youth. He was inducted into the Boys & Girls Club of America National Hall of Fame, volunteered for the Special Olympics and donated time to the March of Dimes Reading Olympics, Carmody said.