April 2024
GREAT FUTURES START HERE
An Eggcelent Way to Learn
The Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle is committed to youth development AND having fun. Our staff is always finding ways to do both.

In Morgan County, the staff combined spring celebrations with an opportunity for a STEM activity by conducting egg eruption experiments. The kids painted eggs with food coloring and baking soda then poured vinegar over their eggs to create a reaction. 

Ensuring that youth have an opportunity to explore science and technology is critical to exposing them to potential career paths, and supporting STEM education for girls helps build a future work force that more fully represents our communities. In fact, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America promotes the fact that 77% of girls who attend Boys & Girls Clubs say the are curious to learn more about science, computers, or technology.
An Inspirational Evening
The Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle had the honor of celebrating Kay Barkwill as our 2024 Stefani Pierson Champion for Youth on the evening of Thursday, April 18. This year's celebration was especially meaningful as, for the first time ever, it was held in the gym at the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Club.

The Champion for Youth Dinner was started in 2009 by then board member Kevin Knowles and Executive Director Stefani Pierson. Club alumnae, Olympic athlete, and former WNBA star Vicky Bullett was the first recipient.

Since then, 14 other community members, all who have made the Eastern Panhandle a better place for kids, have been recognized. As the 15th recipient of the honor, Kay was recognized for the young lives she has touched by establishing then volunteering thousands of hours at Horses with Hearts.
Horses with Hearts provides therapeutic horseback riding lessons that build strength and coordination skills, improve memory, teach responsibility, and promote an overall sense of well-being. Under Kay’s leadership, the organization has expanded to include equine learning programs that enable individuals who are focused on enhancing their emotional and mental health to partner with horses in a way that promotes growth and healing as they address a wide variety of issues including trauma related disorders, addiction recovery, PTSD, and grief. Horses With Hearts also provides Equine-Assisted Leadership Development workshops that provide experimental hand-on leadership skills to for-profit, non-profit, military, first responders and at risk-youth to our community members.

Since 2020, Horses with Hearts has provided Horsepower Summer camps through Jefferson County Schools and the Boys & Girls Club providing equine learning and horsepower reading to many of our children.

We appreciate the partnership, and we appreciate Kay!
Behind the Blue Doors:
Meet Our Staff
A New Jersey Native, Patty came to West Virginia to study and play softball at Shepherd College (now Shepherd University) and never left the area. After receiving her degree in Therapeutic Recreation, she worked as a retail manager for years.
 
When she wasn’t working or coaching her daughters’ sports teams, Patty spent her free time volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club by mentoring and playing games with club kids. After leaving her long-standing career in retail, she wanted to use her leadership and team building skills at the Boys & Girls Club. She now spends her days recruiting, coaching, and developing staff who can bring out the best in our kids. She also works with volunteers and local businesses to ensure that our facilities are safe and meet our programming needs.
 
Patty and her husband Jeff live in Inwood. They have two adult daughters and two granddaughters.
Volunteer Appreciation Week
National Volunteer appreciation week is April 21 - 27, and this year the Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle is especially appreciative of the young people who lent a hand to make our annual Stefani Pierson Champion for Youth event a success.

When the decision was made to hold the event at the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Club this year, the committee knew this would require a lot of additional work, but the young people in our community stepped up.

We are especially appreciative of members of Tri Sigma Sorority at Shepherd University for serving food, Martinsburg High School football and baseball players for setting up and tearing down the event, Spring Mills High School Interact members, and members of the Martinsburg High School leadership class.
Round Up For the Boys & Girls Club
Please remember there is an easy way to give to the Boys & Girls Club: round up!
 
A "Round-Up" is the term to describe the spare change captured by automatically rounding up your transactions to the next dollar when making a purchase with your bank card. Your bank account probably won't even notice the difference - but our club will!
 
Just use the QR code to link to our "Round Up" sign up or go to: https://bgcepwv.harnessgiving.org/campaigns/8859
Find Us on Social Media
The Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle relies on donors to help us keep our doors open.

Our Mission: To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

For more information, contact our administrative offices at 304-263-1832 or visit our website at https://www.bgcepwv.net/.