Sponsor a child at the Boys & Girls Club

As a supporter of the Boys & Girls Club, you’ve probably thought about what a difference the Club makes to kids and how your support helps kids get on the path to a great future. But, what you might not realize is that your support helps whole families do better.

We’d like to share with you what a mom named Jamie told the Club, “I am a single, working mother. With help from the Boys & Girls Club’s scholarship program, I am able to go to work. I don’t have to stay home and depend on welfare, which is the one thing I do NOT want. Deep down in my heart, the Boys & Girls Club is so helpful to my family.” 

When you make a contribution to sponsor a child, you are making a difference in so many ways. You are giving a child the help they need to do well in school. You are giving a child a safe, fun place to learn and play. You are helping a child build good character and values. You are helping a child gain the skills he needs to grow up to be a success. You are doing even more than that, though. 

By making a donation to the Club, you help moms and dads, too. You give parents the opportunity to work to provide for their kids – the dignity of knowing they are working for a living, not accepting a handout. You give kids a stable home environment by giving moms and dads the means to put food on the table and a roof over their children’s heads. Those are pretty amazing gifts! 

Thank you for supporting the Boys & Girls Club!  I hope you will consider giving again and giving those special gifts to even more children and families this holiday season.

Wishing you holidays filled with joy and laughter! 

This summer, thanks to generous donors like you who sponsored kids at the Club, youth in the Oak View neighborhood had not only a safe place to spend their summer days, but also a place to learn and get prepared for success in the new school year at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley’s Oak View Branch. Throughout the months of July and August, the Boys & Girls Club’s Oak View Branch was open from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday-Friday. This is the first time in many years that a summer program has been available to Oak View area youth. Thanks to generous donors like you, the program was completely FREE for youth in the low-income Oak View neighborhood. The community’s response was overwhelmingly positive, with about 120 kids participating each day!

100% of the kids at our Oak View Branch come from low-income households, and nearly all speak a language other than English at home. That puts them at a significant risk of summer learning loss, especially in reading. In fact, at the end of the summer, there is typically a three month gap between lower income and middle income youth who were at the same reading level at the end of the school year. The Club decided to take action to fix this problem with an 8 week summer reading program. The Club chose KidzLit, a reading enrichment program specifically designed for out of school settings like the Boys & Girls Club.

The Club’s goal was to help the kids maintain the reading levels they had at the end of the school year and not lose any ground. The Club got a wonderful surprise when the program’s reading assessments were tallied up at the end of the summer.

• 100% of the children who participated in KidzLit for the entire summer at least maintained their reading levels. This means we achieved our goal – the rest is unexpected and fantastic!

• 33% of youth were reading below grade level at the beginning of summer. By the end of summer, that dropped to just 15%.

• Of the 33% of youth whose reading levels were one or more grade levels behind at the beginning of the summer, 65% improved one or more grade levels, including 30% who improved 2 or more grade levels.

• 70% of all participating youth improved one or more grade levels, including 22% who improved 2 or more grade levels.

• 65% of youth are now reading ABOVE grade level!

With results like these, you can be sure that you are making a real difference to children in need by supporting the Boys & Girls Club.  Thank you!

School’s almost out, and summer is just around the corner. At the Boys & Girls Club, that means it’s time to prepare for full-day summer break programs so kids still have a fun, safe place to go while parents are working hard to support their families. The days are packed with exciting educational activities, fantastic field trips, fun sports and fitness programs, thrilling carnivals and special events, and so much more!

We’re especially excited about our first summer in the Oak View community. The Club’s new Oak View Branch first opened its doors last October and has been offering great youth programs every day after school during the school year. With help from grant funding and generous donors like you, the Boys & Girls Club is pulling its resources together to add an 8-week summer session to the program.

The Oak View summer program will still be absolutely free for the kids and will include a special reading program to help prevent summer learning loss, cooking and nutrition classes with a healthy snack to make sure kids get enough to eat, and plenty of fun, enriching activities to keep kids engaged and active. Families in the neighborhood are excited that their kids will have so many great things to do over the summer, and the Club is thrilled to give kids a safe alternative to being out on the streets.

From all of us here at the Boys & Girls Club, have a safe and happy summer! Thank you for being part of the Boys & Girls Club family!

I'd like to share with you a note from one of the kids your support makes a difference to.  Mykenna is 13 years old and attends our Fountain Valley Branch.  She struggled academically and socially when she started at the Club.  Now, she’s thriving and succeeding.  In her own words, here’s why the Boys & Girls Club is so important to kids and how your support makes a difference.   

“The Boys & Girls Club helps me with succeeding in school, tests and homework.  The staff helps the kids by teaching them the subjects that they are struggling with and making sure that they understand it clear enough.

The staff and older teen members are a big help with my school, because the staff are always there. Plus, the education room is always quiet so it is easier to focus on what I am working on. 

I really think that the Boys & Girls Club has helped me a lot because my grades have improved in many subjects.  It made an impact on my present and my future.”

This holiday season, I want to tell you about the good you are doing for kids at the Boys & Girls Club.  In October, we opened a brand new branch to serve the children of the Oak View community in Huntington Beach.  It's totally free for kids, because nearly all children in that community are living in poverty.  That means we count on your support to sponsor children to attend the Club.  

In your neighborhood, who meets kids as they get off the bus?  Maybe stay at home moms or babysitters.  In Oak View, it’s a different story.  There are gang members waiting in the streets and alleys.  They are there to talk to the kids, especially middle schoolers.  They make it seem like life in the gang is a great thing – cool new friends, people to look out for you.  But, as you and I know, it comes at a huge price.   

For kids like 6^th grader Rafael, the Club has been a life saver.  Instead of walking and talking with the guys in the local gang and being lured into a dangerous life, he’s coming to the Boys & Girls Club. 

His mom insisted that he start coming to the Club when it first opened.  At first, he was really rebellious.  He refused to talk to the other kids.  He didn’t want to listen to the staff and he didn’t understand why he had to be there.  However, with all the fun activities, he learned pretty quickly just how awesome an afternoon at the Club can be.  Now, he’s one of the first to arrive and the last to leave every day.  He signs up for just about every new program the Club has to offer.  And, he has become a really social kid who loves to get other kids together for games. 

Becky, the Oak View Branch’s Program Director, told me, “It’s such a great thing to be able to give him a safe place to be – off the streets.  It’s scary out there for the kids with gang members hanging around the neighborhood.  I’m so glad we can be here to keep the kids safe.”  You and your support are what makes that possible. Thank you!

The Boys & Girls Club family wishes you a wonderful holiday season!