Kids, Inc. Growing Strong
When President & CEO Jimmy Lackey sat down to talk about Kids, Inc., he quickly realized that no story, or photo, for that matter, would be complete without the presence of the program’s first coach. One phone call and a quick ten minutes later, Bus Duggar came walking into the office.
“I’m originally from Oklahoma and came out here as a soap salesman. One day I heard a familiar voice on the radio and it was my friend Cecil Hunter playing ‘Stuttering Sam,’ so I went down to the radio station on 4th and Fillmore where Cal Farley’s place was and that’s how I met Cal,” says Bus Duggar, 89. “I went down there quite often and one day Cal says, ‘Hey kid, I want to start a sports program, and I’d like you to help.’”
At 24 years old, Bus was still new to Amarillo and didn’t know who to call or where to go. Cal Farley arranged for him to attend a PTA meeting at Glenwood Elementary School in October 1944 to pitch the idea. Bus returned to the school that December and was given the go-ahead. On the first Monday in January 1945, Bus drove a Bobtail truck to Glenwood, picked up 11 boys and took them to the Maverick Club to play basketball. Kids, Inc. had officially begun.
“When I was at that PTA meeting, I saw a cute little piano player there and didn’t see a ring on her finger, and I know I didn’t have one on mine,” laughs Bus. “That’s one good thing that had to do with Kids, Inc. We were married 60 years, five months and two days before she passed away.”
Freda, Bus’ late wife, was born and raised in Amarillo, and she had no interest in living the life of a traveling salesman. After encouraging her husband to change careers, Bus got his bachelors and masters degrees from West Texas State University and went on to have a 26-year teaching career. In 1982, he retired as the elementary school principal at the Cal Farley Boys Ranch, but his involvement with Kids, Inc. remained.
Jimmy Lackey, whom Bus affectionately refers to as the “best director Kids, Inc. has had so far,” grew up a coach’s kid playing whatever sport was in season. Like Bus, the Dumas native acquired both his bachelors and masters degrees in education from West Texas and spent 13 years working for his alma mater. While running the Alumni office, Jimmy got a phone call from a friend who told him about the position opening up at Kids, Inc., and in November 1995, he joined the program.
“When I came here, there were no computers, no infrastructure. Everything was kept on paper and coming from higher education, that was culture shock,” says Jimmy. “We immediately installed a computer network and got the phone system put in place. We were in a little office, about 3,400 square feet, in downtown Amarillo. We had eight parking spaces. We had no room to breathe.”
The new president immediately started looking for a new location for the non-profit. He stumbled upon an empty grocery store near 27th and Osage, and two checks later, one from the Wares and one from the Harrington Foundation, and the new Kids, Inc. Warehouse was opened on August 26, 1998.
“By the time it was said and done, we’d raised three quarters of a million dollars,” he says. “We moved into this place and it was bought and paid for. We owed nothing.”
In the last 64 years, Kids, Inc. has grown from a few ballgames a week to hosting 6,199 games in one year. Created for the sole purpose of giving kids an avenue to play sports, it’s a program that has given over 17,000 football, softball, soccer, and volleyball players an outlet they might not have had otherwise.
“We deliver forms to 80-plus schools and build the teams based on that so kids grow up playing on teams together. Any kid with shoes, socks and underwear can play. We provide everything, and we don’t turn a kid away based on financial need,” says Jimmy. “These kids learn life lessons, like how to share, how to compromise, how to win and lose, and how to be a part of a team.”
What makes Kids, Inc. unique is that it isn’t singularly focused. Players can choose from 17 different sports, indoor and out, starting as early as 4 years old all the way to adult leagues. Even with the Bus & Freda Duggar Sportsplex, dedicated in 2003, Jimmy is still looking to expand the program.
“There would be a huge void in Amarillo if Kids, Inc. wasn’t here, and that’s motivation for me everyday to come to work. I have a goal of working with the city to have more centralized outdoor field locations, which would be nice when there are 15 soccer games going on at once,” he says.
“We have the best staff in town,” he continues, “and now we’re seeing fourth generation players, which is really amazing. I have nothing on my radar that makes me want to leave.”
“You better not,” adds Bus, with a laugh. “You can quote me on that.”
by Jennie Treadway-Miller
Jennie was a columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press for eight years prior to moving to Amarillo in 2008. She is an avid reader, runner and writer.Sowing a Seed and Sharing the Benefits: The Randall Master Gardeners
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