PRESS RELEASEContact:
November 27, 2013 Ruth Provost (508) 477 8845
For Immediate Release:
ALL Towns
The Boys & Girls Club Of Cape Cod
Releases their Annual Wish List for The 2013 Holiday Season
The Boys & Girls Club of Cape Cod has released their annual Wish List for the 2013 Holiday Season. The top item on the list remains cash donations to keep the Boys & Girls Club’s doors open and the staff in place to serve 840 Cape Cod children & teens year-round.
The Boys & Girls Club is a place where kids find life changing programs - programs that help them succeed in school, that help them develop job skills, learn teamwork and good sportsmanship, express themselves through art or music, and develop into future leaders who understand the value of giving back to their community. It is a place where great futures start.
The Boys & Girls Club had the highest daily attendance they ever had last winter!174 kids walked through their doors every day after school. (picture 9 classrooms), than they did before the recession, and they are doing it on a budget that was cut by $100,000 instead of going up to meet the increased local need for affordable and life-changing and research-based programs that serve Cape kids while parents work.
Club Executive Director, Ruth Provost, puts the need into perspective. “Because we keep our fees low, parents don’t have to worry about how to keep their children safe while they are at work. At an average annual cost of just over $700 a child – or just about $1.50 a day per child - we are hugely cost effective and good at pinching every penny our donors provide, but when you multiply that out by 840 kids, it means we need community support to provide the high impact programs that help Cape Cod kids. The Boys & Girls Club is not a town, county, or government organization - we are a private non-profit charity - supported by grants, special events, and by gifts from the public. This means that every gift is fully tax-deductible. We raise our operating budget of $732,000 from scratch every year through donations, special events, and grants.” She added, “I want to ask your readers to please make a gift to our kids during the holidays - or at any other timeof the year, for that matter! It is always appreciated and makes a huge difference in the lives of so many children and families.”
The Boys & Girls Club Holiday Wish List also includes more concrete items beyond a cash donation - thingsthat are needed to run the club and serve the children, ranging from the highend of a new Teen Center at $850,000 or a new van at $10,000 - to the less costly need for healthy daily snacks, pool sticks, and art or office supplies.
“A gift to the Boys & Girls Club of Cape Cod is also a great present to give to someone who has everything this holiday season,” said Jim Kiley, President of the Board of Directors at the Boys & Girls Club. “When you give a person the gift of knowing that they have helped to provide peace of mind to a struggling single mother working two jobs; or have provided a safe place with adult-supervision to a child who would have gone home alone after school; or gave the gift of a summer camp scholarship to a youngster - that makes a heartwarming present.” He added “And when you give a gift to the Boys & Girls Club that honors the memory of a loved one or that recognizes an adult who has made a difference in your own life, you are giving a gift that keeps on giving long after the candles are blown out or the last pine needles are swept away.”
Boys & Girls Club of Cape Cod Wish List for 2013
First and foremost, the Club needs cash donations to keep the doors open, the lights on and trained caring adults available to serve 840 Cape children & teens during the year.
Gift Certificates in $5 and $10 increments to various restaurants, stores, or malls to use as incentives for kids to do their homework, take part in fitness activities, or asprizes for tournaments.
Gift Certificates to Supermarkets like Roche Bros, Stop & Shop, BJs, Shaw’s, Market Basket, or theHyannis Cash & Carry, to buy healthy snacks and food for the kids & for their Health & Fitness cooking classes.
Gift Certificates in $10 increments to sporting goods stores, video game stores, beauty & nail salons, iTunes, the Cape Cod Mall, Mashpee Commons, South Cape Village, DunkinDonuts, pizza & sub places, etc. to use as prizes and incentives for the Teen Program. Pizza places are particularly prized!
AA batteries & C batteries for the camera’s they use in their digital arts, photography, club newspaper, and clay animation movie making classes.
New Pool Sticks (kid size)
Gas cards to fill up their vans so they can take the kids on field trips.
A new Phone System. ($4800)
The addition of a New Teen Center and new Program Space at our Clubhouse! ($850,000.)
Xbox 360 Wireless controllers.
Toys & Games geared towards kids 9-13 to use as prizes for taking part in the Homework & Health & Fitness Programs.
Movie Passes.
Gym Supplies – ping pong balls, jump ropes, soft dodge balls, basketballs.
Art Supplies of all kinds –Card stock 11x17 and 8.5x11; scotch tape and masking tape; spools of elastic cord; regular cord for weaving bracelets;beads and jewelry making stuff, sequins, buttons, pipe cleaners, glitter, hot glue sticks, gimp, plastic canvas, paper lunch bags, yarn, white glue, construction paper, and fusible beads that adhere to each other when ironed.
Gift Cards to Staples, KenMark, or other office supply stores for copy paper, toner & envelopes.
Tickets to sporting events, plane tickets, tickets to musical or theatrical events, certificates for professional services like dentistry or electrical or plumbing work, or use of a condo, home or timeshare in any big city or warm climate that can be auctioned off at one of our annual special events.
The Club needs two pool tables recovered at $360/table.
A Portable Score Board
Toys & games geared towards kids aged 9-13
A Dance-Dance Revolution Game & Mats for Xbox 360
A Wall-Mounted Flat Screen TV between 36” and 46”
A New Storage Shed or Storage Pod
A new 15 passenger van
Scholarships - provide a Club member with a membership or camp scholarship to the Club at $75 for one child for the school year or $165 a child for a week of summer camp!
Membership to the club also a wonderful stocking stuffer for your own child to find on Christmas morning.
Membership is open to any Cape Cod child or teen, ages 6-18 and in grades 1-12. Members have full use of the facility whenever it is open for their age group, including use of the high speed internet computer room, teen programming, homework help and tutoring when needed, games room activities that change weekly, arts & crafts programming including music, drama, and movie-making, sports leagues, and health and fitness programs in the club's full size gymnasium 2 to 8 or 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
In addition, the Boys & Girls Club is open during school vacation weeks from 8:30 am until 5:30 pm and members in grades 1-8 can spend all day at the Club at those times, with special field trips available for both the younger kids and teen members. Please see the Club Web site or call 508-477-8845 for further details. Donations can be made by MasterCard or Visa on line at the Club’s web site, on a secure site or by calling 508-477-8845.