By Stephanie Lindstrom | Development Coordinator
December can be a month of both joy and sadness for our youth, so we strive to make it the best possible for them to help fulfill both needs and wants. Payless ShoeSource provided us with 150 $20 gift cards so our youth could go shopping for brand new shoes. And thanks to Fred Meyer and Portland Trail Blazer, Wesley Mathews, coats were collected during the month of December in the 5th annual coat drive benefitting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland. Hundreds of coats were collected and given to our members. We had the honor of assisting with the Parkrose School District Food & Gift Drive. Our Parkrose Club staff joined school staff and community volunteers to assist in the collection and distribution of 8,000 lbs of food and 500 gifts to 160 Parkrose families. The month was completed with all Clubs hosting a Holiday Celebration event. With the help of many community partners and Giving Trees, all of our kids were able to receive gifts of toys and clothing. Many of them were able to meet Santa Clause for the first time as well!
On December 16, the Jack Will and Rob Club unveiled a state-of-the-art “Tween Tech Center,” to help spark kids’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and prepare young people for 21st century success. Funded by Samsung, the Tween Tech Center will be a modernized technology classroom for Club members with the latest mobile devices for learning, including a custom STEM curriculum and eBooks on Samsung tablets adn laptops. Developed by education leader Scholastic, the custom STEM curriculum, “Building Blocks,” will assist kids’ education and literacy goals and encourage Club tweens to work together and invent creative, engineering-based solutions for community needs.
90 youth, families, and community members including our Portland Mayor, Charlie Hales and his wife, Nancy, attended a Peace Rally organized by Regence Club teens as part of the New Columbia's Youth Empowerment Solutions group, part of the STRYVE initiative, which stands for Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere.
And finally, we were honored to be voted as Oregon's 6th Most Admired Non-Profit company, which is selected by Oregon CEO's.
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