Kool & The Gang's big message for kids

Wednesday, August 12, 2009
By PAUL TAKAHASHI
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Grammy Award-winning R&B group Kool & The Gang returned to its Jersey City roots yesterday to unveil a giant mobile billboard with the message "BE KOOL!" at the Hudson County Boys and Girls Club.

"The group started 45 years ago, and we started here," Robert "Kool" Bell, the group's leader and bass player, told about 70 children at the club, located at One Canal St. in Downtown. "It's great to be back here for a great cause."

Bell was joined by his brother and band mate Ronald "Khalis" Bell and Dennis "DT" Thomas, also a founding member of the legendary group. When they were teenagers, they made a deal to get free rehearsal space at the Jersey City Boys and Girls Club, then located on Ash Street.

Thomas said he arranged with former club director Tom Pakidis for the group to mop floors in exchange for a place to practice. The rehearsals paid off. With hits such as "Get Down On It" and "Celebration," the group has sold more than 70 million records worldwide.

The 12- by 20-foot mobile billboard unveiled at the Boys and Girls Club yesterday is part of a national youth advocacy ad campaign dubbed "Be Great" launched in September 2008, said Connie Ludwin, the NJ club's state director.

Courtesy of Clear Channel Outdoor, the billboards are going up nationwide. Yesterday, Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter Ashanti also unveiled her club billboard in Times Square.

"Hopefully, thousands will see them (the billboards)," Ludwin said. "We're using well-known individuals who came through the Boys and Girls Clubs to draw attention to the work we do."

Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy endorsed the message.

"The Boys and Girls Club has done wonderful things for thousands of youngsters in our community," Healy said at yesterday's event. "You can all be great if you put your mind to it."

Robert and Ronald Bell said they will be partnering with Rutgers University and the Boys and Girls Clubs of New Jersey to sponsor the first annual Kool School Music Boot Camp tomorrow and Friday at the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick. Four kids from the club in Hudson County are planning to attend, said Club Director Gary Greenberg.

"They don't even see something like this as work," he said, pointing to Kool & The Gang members mingling with the kids. "Their willingness to give back is without limits . it's really touching."