The Yukon's opposition MLAs asked the territorial government on Monday to rescue the Whitehorse Boys and Girls Club, which plans to close next week if it doesn't get any emergency funding.

The club, which runs an after-school drop-in centre and other programs for Whitehorse youth, is facing a major shortfall that executive director Dave Blottner said it cannot meet this year.

The Yukon government and the City of Whitehorse has already given the Boys and Girls Club a total $140,000 in annual contributions, but Blottner said the club needs $231,000 each year to operate.

If it cannot secure enough funding, Blottner said the Boys and Girls Club will have to close down for good on Dec. 14.

In the legislature on Monday, both Liberal and NDP MLAs asked the Yukon Party government to provide emergency funding to keep the club afloat.

"The Boys and Girls Club provides a safe space for youth in the downtown core and at the [Canada] Games Centre. They provide hot meals, programming and employment services for youth," NDP MLA Todd Hardy said in the legislature.

"They have been caught in a budgetary difficulty through no fault of their own. Like so many NGOs every year, they are forced to write applications for funding to keep programs going. This year, the Boys and Girls Club had several proposals rejected."

Liberal Opposition Leader Arthur Mitchell said the club should receive some interim funding while it looks for a long-term solution to its financial troubles.

Premier Dennis Fentie said government officials are in talks with the Boys and Girls Club, even though the government has already given the club its final payment for the year.

"I think it's important we recognize that other sources of financial support for these NGOs appear to be diminishing, and that's something of concern," Fentie said.

Watching the debate from the legislature's public gallery was Tory Steele, 16, who said the club's indoor skateboard park has kept a lot of teens off the city's streets after school.

"Me personally, I guess I'd just probably stay home, but I know there's a lot of kids that they're just going to be wandering around downtown, you know, probably getting into some shenanigans," Steele said.

"I know that the city was complaining that graffiti’s a problem. Boys and Girls Club has free graffiti walls, and I can definitely see a spike in it [graffiti] after the Boys and Girls Club closes."