Sponsor a child at the Boys & Girls Club

A few years ago, Veronica Lake’s children Zack and Brianna joined the Club. Their family was struggling financially and Veronica was going back to school so that she could make a better life for herself and her kids. She counted on the Boys & Girls Club to give her kids a safe place to learn and play after school and the Club’s scholarship program - supported by generous donors like YOU - made it affordable, even on her tight budget.

Her kids loved coming to the Club and Veronica really appreciated the special extras that the Club staff included her kids in, like the annual Toys for Tots party that helped give her children holiday gifts when she couldn’t afford to give them much herself. While Veronica was working and going to school, she also made time to volunteer as a basketball coach for the kids at the Club, because giving back to the community and doing her best for her kids have always been her priorities.

Now, a few years later, Veronica has started her own human resources business. Veronica has become successful as a business owner and HR professional, using the MBA that she earned while her kids were at the Boys & Girls Club. She remembers the Club with a lot of gratitude for being there for her when her family needed it the most. She says, “I opened my company a year and half ago and it’s been doing really well. I am a true believer in giving back and the Boys & Girls Club was there for us when I didn’t have much.” So, this summer, she donated $5,000 to support the programs that meant the most to her family – the Club’s basketball league and the holiday party for kids in need. The Club is thrilled to have had a small part in Veronica’s success story and so grateful that she chose to pay it forward to the next group of families who need a helping hand.

Veronica knows that the Club’s scholarship program is not giving a hand-out. It’s giving a hand up to families who are working hard to provide for their families, to make a better life for themselves, and ultimately to make our whole community a better place.

Would you like to be the person that gets another family on the path to a great future? Please make a donation to the Club’s scholarship program today.

This year, the Club will give more than $800,000 in scholarships to kids in need to make sure that no child is ever turned away for inability to pay. Your contribution to the Club's scholarship fund is an important part of making that happen! 

One of our young Club members named Irene recently wrote a letter to the Club staff about what it means to her to be part of the Boys & Girls Club. I'd like to share it with you because you are a big part of what makes the Club such a positive place for kids like Irene. 

She says, "The Boys & Girls Club is a place where you find what you might not find anywhere else, like happiness, fairness, and even being creative. From the very first day I came, I could feel JOY in my heart. The Boys & Girls Club makes me feel safe, but gives me the freedom and space that I need. Every Friday, they have an assembly where they announce kids who are caught doing something good that week. It makes you feel really happy about yourself."

Thanks for helping Irene and kids like her feel joyful, safe, and happy about themselves. I honestly can't think of a better way to invest your money than in giving a child in need those gifts and we are so grateful to you for choosing the Boys & Girls Club and making a difference to the kids in the Club's scholarship program. 

If you'd like to help another child like Irene, please consider making another gift or sharing this project with your friends on social media. The more that's invested in the scholarship program, the more joyful, happy, and safe kids there will be at the Boys & Girls Club!