It's out with the old and in with the new for the DeSoto Boys and Girls Club.

"This building's been around for 50 years. It's been well loved for those years, but it's time a for a new club," said Boys and Girls Club President Dawn Stanhope.

The club is trying to raise $7.5 million for a new facility.

The current building has been around since Gene Brown was a part of the club more than 40 years ago.

Brown said it was his safe haven.

"Things have been good after 4 years old, when my mom and biological father got divorced, but the club gave me a place to be and do things and have made me the person I am today," Brown said.

Brown is now a father, business owner and Bradenton City Council member. He doesn't forget his more humble times, serving hundreds of lunches every summer.

"You know, obviously there's some new cabinets and refrigerators, but everything else is exactly the same," Brown said.

The club plans on building on a piece of the land they already own adjacent to the existing facility.

"This building's been around for 50 years. It's been well loved for those years, but it's time a for a new club." - Boys and Girls Club President Dawn Stanhope

The new building will be 41,000 square feet, with the capacity to serve 600 kids. That's triple the amount they are currently serving.

The new site will have a separate teen and youth area, along with an area dedicated to the former CEO of the boys and girls club, Carl Weeks.

Brown said Weeks changed his life.

"The Carl Weeks of the world is what I remember," he said. "I'm still friends with him today, and do a lot of things with him still, but the relationship is what you get out of it," said Brown.

The Boys and Girls Club has already raised $4.4 million.

The Deerkbrook Charitable Trust is matching donations totaling $1 million to any donors who have never given to the Boys and Girls club before or in the past two years or in honor of Carl Weeks.

To learn more you can head to bgcmanatee.org.