Sponsor a child at the Boys & Girls Club

I'd like to introduce you to Yeraldine. She's one of the kids at our Oak View Branch, which is free for every child who attends. She was recently named our "Youth of the Year." At the Boys & Girls Club, we have a year-long program to celebrate the outstanding children in our programs. We start with honoring Kids of the Week, moving up to Kids of the Month, and the finally, one special child is named Youth of the Year. Yeraldine was chosen for this honor because she exemplifies all that we hope for each of the kids in our programs. She shows hard work, dedication to the community, kindness, courage, perseverance, teamwork, commitment, and much more. Keep reading to find out all about what makes her so special. 

Yeraldine has big goals and the Club is helping her achieve them. She says, “I want to have the title of being the first person in my family to ever attend a university. I plan to graduate high school with the highest possible grades. After graduation, I plan on attending a university and becoming an accountant, because I enjoy working with numbers. But the most important plan that I hope to accomplish in the future is to be able to make my parents and younger siblings proud of me. I want to show my parents that their hard work always trying to keep our family stable will pay off. For my siblings, I want them to look at me as a role model to show that anything is possible with hard work and determination.” We know she makes her family and her friends at the Club proud of her every day and she’s well on her way to making her dreams of a college education come true. She maintains a 4.0 GPA, and especially appreciates the Education Center at the Club, which she says helps her with her AP math class and honors classes.

Yeraldine is creative and loves to see how other kids create and imagine as well. One of her favorite activities at the Club is making art projects. She says, “Not only are we able to create our own art, but we are able to see what other people create. We can see that someone using the same materials as you can think of and create something completely different. I find this fascinating that everyone can create different things that seem out of this world. All you need is imagination, which it’s impossible not to have.”

Yeraldine is an active volunteer, already making a difference in her community. She helps with monthly neighborhood cleanups and she volunteers at the library helping younger children learn to read. She says, “I want kids to see that reading allows you to live through many different lives and travel to many different universes that you would have never imagined.”

“Thanks to the Club, I have learned not to limit myself, but to say that I am able to do what I put my mind to. The power is within me and I have to show other people that I’m able to change the world.”

You are the one who makes it possible for the Club to be there for Yeraldine and other kids like her. You are helping them feel powerful, limitless, and ready to change the world! And, you're giving them the tools they need to be successful so that those are more than just words and ideas. Thank you. I know you've made a big difference to Yeraldine. I hope you'll continue to support the Club and help us reach more children like Yeraldine.