Boys and Girls Clubs of King County launches end-of-year donation drive

Let's talk about a group within King County, Seattle, and the surrounding cities that offers so many awesome opportunities to... The kids of this area. I'm talking about specifically the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County. There are quite a few of them. Joining me now is Bridget Powers with the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County. And Bridget, you guys are kind of wrapping up the year. And you have a few events going on as well as a call for a little bit of assistance from the community. First off, thanks for taking some time to talk to me. Thank you for having me. It's nice to see you again. Yeah, it's always good to see you and Lori and the whole club and groups. Let's talk about this event later this month for the holidays. Yeah, yeah. So for us, in addition to what's happening right now in the clubs and our year round programming, it's a very busy time with holiday events and donation. Thank you, Nathan. drive. So at the end of the month, our clubs will be hosting Thanksgiving meals for club kids and families. It's an opportunity to, you know, bring together the staff and volunteers, mentors, families and kids together to share a meal, have great conversation and spend some time with these adults that are a part of these kids everyday lives. Let's talk about this. There will be several different Thanksgiving meals and events that you have going on on both Thanksgiving Day and that Friday. Tell me about it specifically, because they kind of stretch throughout the city of Seattle, all these different events I'm looking at. Yeah, so our different clubs, so Ballard, Wallingford, North Seattle, Kirkland and Rainier Vista, providing these holiday event or meals for families and club kids. And they take place typically before Thanksgiving. So Thanksgiving Day, families can spend together. But these take place at the clubs and they are serving turkey, mashed potatoes, all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal. Thank And donations are, you know, are happy. We're happy to accept any donations that anybody would like to give to the clubs. you They can reach out to their local club specifically or go to our website as well, positiveplace.org, so looking for donations to help these events happen. much. And let's talk about that because starting next week, so the week before, two weeks before Thanksgiving, I need to check my calendar, you guys are kicking off your end of the year donation campaign. This is something that you do every year. What does that look like? Yeah, so this kicks off next week. And anybody that gives prior to Giving Tuesday, December 1st, will receive a limited edition Boys and Girls Club tote bag. Oh, cool. So that's super exciting. And the gifts go directly to keep clubs accessible to kids and families. So it helps us provide meals. These holiday meals, for example, after-school snacks, transportation, scholarships. We give out more than $1.8 million a year in scholarships, so cost is not a barrier to families. So, yeah, And also, it just helps us provide the 50-plus programs that we offer year-round to our local community kids and families. I'm starting Yeah, let's talk about the work that you guys do. Because you have clubs throughout the county. to How many specific clubs do you guys have in King County? speak Yeah, we have 33 clubs across King County. So really, there's a club, it seems like, now. in every corner of King County. Bainbridge Island to the east side, south end, north end. And, um, So 33 total, serving kids every day, all year. And I think, Bridget, we have this footage from this past year's. Field day we're looking at. So it's these types of events that you guys offer to the community really cover the gamut and the spectrum of what a kid could want to do. After-school activities, summer camps. One of the coolest things this past year with World Cup in town was some of the members of the local clubs got to be on the field for one of the matches. And in this event, I actually got to hang out with you guys. It was so fun. It was just field day. Yeah, there you go. There's the cheerleader. Yeah, because these were members of the Seahawks dance team who were there, Seahawks organization working alongside with you guys with so many different events. So when you donate, you're helping kids, and you're talking 30-plus clubs. How many kids are involved with the work that you guys do? Oh my gosh, AJ, we, you know, we serve thousands of kids every year and that's, you know, after school programming, athletics, our teen program, our work readiness program. So we are making an impact out there in the community for sure. And for example, this field day is one event that we We do yearly. It brings together 500 plus kids to a field and just have a good time. And we do many of these throughout the year as well. Many of these types of events. Yeah, so cool. And again, so we are kind of getting into that holiday season. And it is a time of giving for a lot of people. So you do have these Thanksgiving meals specifically for clubs, kids and their families. They'll be happening at Ballard, Wallingford, Kirkland, North Seattle and the Rainier Vista Clubs this month. Is there anything that folks should know if they are, you know, club members or if they want to kind of get involved? Are you guys looking for volunteers? I know we're looking for donations for these upcoming Thanksgiving meals. Yeah. If you're if you're a club kid out there, a family and you want to participate, reach out to your local club. Thank We are. I'm happy to accept donations to help make these meals happen. And then just volunteers in general. Year-round, we are looking for volunteers to come into the clubs, to be mentors, spend time with our club kids, coach our athletic programs. you. I'm Year-round, we are looking for volunteers. starting So if you are interested, please visit your local club, call up your local club, or go to our website for more information. Love to have you. And so specifically, we are reaching kind of that end-of-year time. to speak Let's talk a little bit more about how the end-of-the-year donation campaign works. So it starts next week, and you have a few weeks if you're willing to get involved now. to kind of get a really cool Boys and Girls Club special early holiday gift. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So if you are interested in giving to our end of year campaign, please reach out to our website. Like I said, the money goes directly to making sure that these clubs and programs are accessible to kids and families in our community. How can folks, so we're talking Talking about some of the club information for members, if people... I want to learn just in general about the club, whether they want to become members, whether they want to volunteer, whether they do want to kind of start donating. How can they find out the information to do that, Bridget? Yeah, our website, positiveplace.org, is a great way to learn more information about all of our clubs and King County in general. Another way is to, if you have a club in your community, feel free to call up your local club or even stop by and speak with staff as well. Awesome. Bridget Powers of the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County, 30 plus clubs, hundreds of kids. You guys are helping to kind of build that community because it is really just more than just activities. It's it's building community. One of the coolest things that I got to experience when I was doing one of the stories this past summer was how. Age out sounds like not a good term, but you do. You get older, you're no longer a boy or a girl, you're a man or a woman. But some of those people come back and they don't have to leave the club. They just take on a different role with the work that you guys do. And they do, AJ. They come back. And that's what's so great about this work is these kids grow up in the clubs. They may age out, but they come back to give back to the younger generation as mentors, as volunteers, as coaches. And, you know, I've been around for many years. So I've seen a lot of kids come through our programs and come back. And it's just so wonderful to see. Yeah, I technically probably would age out, but I still. identify as a kid, so I have a lot of fun whenever I get to hang out with you guys. You are a club kid forever, AJ. I love it. I love it. Bridget, thanks for taking some time to talk to us. As you heard Bridget mention, they got a lot going on. It is getting close to the holidays. It is getting close to the season of giving, so for more information, you go to their website. You can volunteer. You can become a member, or you can just donate. Bridget, appreciate you. Thanks for making time for us. Thanks so much for having us. We appreciate it.