WE'RE BACK!
Kids Zone Summer Program Opens July 13th
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On July 13th, for the first time in four months, the Club jubilantly opened our doors to our Kids Zone summer program. Although we were not able to welcome back all of the kids we typically serve, we are thrilled that the Club hallways, pool and gym will once again reverberate with the laughter and joy of children!! Kids Zone is a fabulously fun program where children can explore, create, interact, and stay active this summer both outside and in our pool! Participants are grouped according to their age. There will be approximately 8 children in each group.
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Spotlight on Colleen Donnelly
Youth of the Year
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Rarely has the Club had a more obvious choice for Youth of the Year than with Colleen Donnelly. Colleen embodies all that we hope for in a Youth of the Year candidate. Colleen is a rising junior at Arlington High School and has been a lifelong Club member. She has a mature, bubbly, vivacious and warm personality where she strives to make others feel equal and included regardless of perceived differences. Colleen has volunteered more than 330 hours at the Club, 215 of those were completed last summer. Last Fall Colleen joined our staff as a front desk attendant where she absolutely owns the space! Colleen requires minimal instruction and is always willing to pitch in. She is a total team player. Not only does Club Staff love her but also the children adore her too. She is an exceptional role model and we are so proud of Colleen!
This past June, Colleen represented the Arlington Boys & Girls Club at the Massachusetts Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year competition, the most prestigious honor for a member of a local Boys & Girls Club. Her poise and grace resonated with the judges as she made a lasting impression! Congratulations Colleen!
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Spotlight on Lisbeth Landaverde
Youth Service Award Winner
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The Club selected Lisbeth Landverde, a 2020 graduate of Arlington Catholic, as the recipient of our 22nd Annual Youth Service Award due to her intense passion and commitment to volunteerism, specifically her advocacy on immigration issues which has deeply impacted her family. Lisbeth’s parents are from El Salvador and have experienced many challenges with immigration which Lisbeth has witnessed firsthand.
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Lisbeth, a very polite and reserved young woman, serves on the Massachusetts Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Committee whose aim is to focus on protecting TPS holders and their families. She is a leader in the Boston youth branch of this nationwide organization and travels the world to speak on the matter. It is remarkable and impressive to see so much passion at such a young age. Lisbeth absolutely lights up when she discusses her advocacy work and when she recounts her family’s story. Lisbeth is also involved in several other important volunteer roles. She is a future first generation college student and she hopes to continue her advocacy role at Lone Star College in Houston, TX this Fall. The Club is honored to have awarded Lisbeth with this service award.
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Club Beautification & Upgrades
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During the shutdown we have taken the opportunity to beautify the Club! We can’t wait for you to see the changes. Club Staff, using bright colors, painted the walls in the main floor hallway leading to the pool and painted the stairwell leading up to the Gym and down to the bottom floor.
We installed a new water fountain on the bottom floor, generously donated by
Jim Foster and friends. Plumbing services were graciously donated by
Charlie Lovett of Lovett Plumbing and electrical work courtesy of
Vincent Lee of Lee Electric.
New WiFi was installed throughout the building. The setup of the WiFi was donated by an anonymous Club supporter.
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Double the Fun Giving Challenge
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We are so excited to report that our generous community met and exceeded the giving match of our anonymous donor! In one week donors contributed a whopping $6,995!
With our $5000 match to “Double the Fun”, we raised $11,995 to help make the best summer possible for our Kids Zone and staff!
These funds will ensure that we have all of the safe equipment, fun games and staff we need to deliver a great program!
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Despite several months of shuttered Club doors, Club staff was busy working from home to provide fun and interesting activities to keep our quarantined community engaged, entertained and active. Initially we worked to enhance the content of our website,
www.abgclub.org. We researched hundreds of organizations that had fantastic online content and shared that with our
youth,
teen and
adult members and rotated the content weekly.
Preschool teachers
and program staff recorded themselves singing songs and reading beloved stories. We turned to our social media platforms to launch push-up, cutest dog and trick shot contests as well as a very popular weekly Zoom Family Trivia Contest. The Instagram staff quiz games were a huge hit too!
To get kids active, in mid-May we launched the 'Let’s Get Moving' Live Virtual Gym Classes. These 30 minute classes were held Monday through Friday and our Program Coordinators and Coaches creatively lead spirited workout, gym (baseball, basketball, cup stacking, etc.) and dance classes. We even had a bunch of awesome Virtual Mindfulness Classes. We never stopped thinking about our members and ways to keep you engaged and motivated!!
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Donate Your Used Vehicle to Benefit the Club
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Donate your unwanted car, truck, trailer or boat to the Arlington Boys & Girls Club. Your vehicle will be towed away free of charge and your donation will help fund youth programming and activities at the Club. If you qualify, you will receive a tax deduction. Tell your friends and neighbors!
For more information or to schedule a pick-up call 1-855-824-2227
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Thank you for your patience as we adapt to our new environment. Thank you for your generosity and support over the past several months. We are so excited to welcome back children to the Club. Our staff is brimming with excitement to get outdoors and have fun and we are already planning a fantastic Fall lineup!
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