It's been a whirlwind year for the Boys and Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore. A new place to call home for the hundreds of kids that use the facility and programming on a daily basis. The navigation of a pandemic and the re-imagination of how some of what they do had to get done in the height of it all. The necessity to gather funding to make the new place "home" pivot on the programming and all that's been entailed. It's been a lot of work for those who help make the B&G Club happen. They never once let up though. Our future is in their hands.
With some of the pressure off, the new place to call home has been opened up to the kids who come in after school to find a snack and a meal in some cases. Options to play, learn and explore in ways they choose are presented daily and that feeling of a supportive community is there for them from the minute they get off the bus and walk through the door. It's a story that plays out across the country with the B&G Clubs of America and in Muskegon for the last 6 years it's been growing, gaining and we are just now beginning to see some results from some of the very first participants who came into the program in year one here, who are now returning to share their experience with the next generation. You are welcome to view the Club in any lens you like. To some it might be extra curricular activity. To others it might be a hang out. Others, support for education and some, it may be their chance for that evening meal. Looking at it like we have for the last 6 years since it started, it's building a stronger foundation for our young people away from the narrative that Muskegon is some place to get out of as soon as you can once you reach adulthood. What's happening at the B&G Club here is the building of a root system for the long term success of our youth, and it's being done by financial contributors, volunteers and staff who strive to make sure that every one of these kids sees their own potential and value.
With that, the fundraising continues. The events are coming back a little stronger like this past weekends Great Futures Gala which saw a higher attendance than ever before. The work at the building is in motion and the future shines brighter and brighter as we head down the road. "Watch Us Go" is becoming so much more than buildings and street clean up's. We're watching futures and lives change right here and now and that's what Step it Up Muskegon is all about.
We're joined by Kenneth Robison of Scherdel Sales and Technology of Muskegon and Attorney Shon Cook and Dakota Crow and Monica Turnbull from the Boys and Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore for the presentation. Take a listen.
So, as we hear in the conversation, the cost per kid to participate is $5 a year. We never ask or dictate how the donation goes, but... quick math shows that 200 kids just had the cost defrayed for their year at the B&G Club in Muskegon. Maybe it was snacks and meals, it could have been some needed equipment or building essentials. Whatever they need. We're so thankful to Shon and Scherdel for taking this project all over the county to help those in need. We'll be back next month with a new organization and donation! Stay tuned.
