Please join us in supporting Boys & Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley’s Great Futures Start Here Annual Benefit Dinner & Auction this year. Scheduled for Saturday, October 16, 2021, you can be part of this event in-person at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa, or from the comfort of your own home by hosting a watch part with your own small group of friends. Whichever way you choose to support the kids at the Club, you’ll be making a big difference.
It’s been one year. One year since Friday, March 13, 2020, the day when the first lockdown order came and schools shut down. Every day since then has been a fight. A fight to keep the Boys & Girls Club’s doors open for the kids who need us most. A fight to give those kids the support they need to make it through this difficult time.
And the Club is winning that fight – because of you and your support. You are helping the kids at the Club survive and thrive. Despite a global pandemic. Despite lockdowns, school closures, and lost jobs. With your help, kids have the stability they need at the Boys & Girls Club.
But, even though we made it through 2020, the Club’s fight isn’t over yet. The Club’s school age branches doubled their hours of operation from 5.5 hours each day to 11 hours each day in order to be there for kids who are doing school online only or in hybrid models. Doubling the Club’s hours of operation, combined with the need to keep kids in small stable groups without any mixing, has resulted in staffing costs that far exceed the amount that families can afford to pay for childcare. The Club has a funding gap of nearly $100,000 each month. Your support can help bridge that gap and make sure that every child who needs the Boys & Girls Club has access to it.
Here are the best ways that you can help:
With your support, moms and dads will be able to go to work to keep our community moving forward toward recovery, knowing that their kids are well cared for in our preschools and school age Clubs. Thanks to you, kids will get the help they need to succeed in school when they are unable to be in the classroom. Your help will ensure that kids get enough to eat, with a free meal at the Club offered every day. And, you’ll help kids get opportunities to be active and connected with other kids through sports and performing arts programs in person and on Zoom.
Moms and dads share with us all the time what a difference the Boys & Girls Club makes for their families. What we hear again and again is that just like the Boys & Girls Club has been fighting hard to be here for the kids and families that need us, families are in the fight for their lives, too. Moms and dads are struggling to provide for their families. Kids are doing their best with online learning and changing school schedules. It’s been a hard year. We’d like to share one family’s story with you.
Vivian says, “I am a single mom of two and finances are extremely tight. We are living paycheck to paycheck. The Club’s scholarship program makes all the difference for us. Ever since traditional schooling was put on pause, I was struggling trying to balance work life and home life, and basically home schooling after work. I felt that my kids were suffering because there is only me and I am spread pretty thin. But, now that my kids are at the Boys & Girls Club, they are able to get the guidance they need.” Your support helps the Club give Vivian’s kids the help they need while she works to give her family a stable home and a better future.
This long fight to recovery from the pandemic is a team effort. The Club continues to do whatever it takes to support the kids. At the same time, the parents of the families we serve are working hard in healthcare and other essential jobs to help our whole community. With you on our team, we have hope that the Boys & Girls Club can win this long fight and come back stronger than ever for the kids who need us most. We hope we can count on you to be in our corner by supporting the 2021 Great Futures Start Here Annual Benefit Dinner & Auction.
Sincerely,
Ed Arnold Rob Handy
Event Chair President