The annual Ukiah Daily Journal Spring Drive for the Boys and Girls Club of Ukiah is continuing, and we’re asking our readers to help us raise $45,000 to keep the club doors open.
Today’s new donations: Timothy Pletcher $500, Ukiah Sinclair $500 (monthly sponsorship), Chuck & Barbara Vaughn $250, Casey & Duncan Johnston $200, Mary Hatfield $150, Red Hat Society $35.
Today’s Community Donors: $1,635
Campaign Total to Date: $7,040
As always, The Daily Journal will print the names of donors, unless anonymity is requested. Send your check to Boys and Girls Club, P.O. Box 67, Ukiah, CA 95482.
Let’s hear from the club’s Board of Directors:
My name is Kay Richards. I have been the Board Chair for Boys & Girls Club of Ukiah (BGCU) since April of 2023. I got involved with BGCU about nine years ago at a time when the last thing on my mind was joining the board of a nonprofit. I had no board experience and was already involved in too many projects. I knew very little about the Boys & Girls Club organization except that it was a nationwide after-school program and had heavy-weight poster “kids” like Denzel Washington. Little did I know about our local club kids themselves, or what the BGCA movement provides, or how our club carries out the national program to serve our local community.
Our club motto is pretty direct: to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. We meet this goal through the solid leadership of our Chief Executive Officer Julie Whalen and Site Director Nathaly Hernandez, who oversee a staff of a dozen young men and women. Our K-12 club membership is in the mid-400s and daily we can see anywhere from 120 to 140 kids walk through our doors. We are endeavoring to increase both numbers.
All of these kids arrive at the club in a wide variety of moods and physical conditions. Some have had a hard day at school or home, some are very hungry, most are excited to be at the club. All need community. Our staff has eyes open and ears tuned in on who needs to talk, who needs comfort and assurance, who needs to get rid of energy, who needs a quick reminder of how to self-regulate emotions, or who just needs a snack.
It is truly amazing to then watch the staff get all of the kids to settle down, to get a quick snack, and then go off to whatever activities the staff has planned for the afternoon. Programs include visitors to the club such as exotic animal caretakers (with their animals, of course), games in the playground, homework and reading, learning about emotions and growing up.
After these past nine or so years being part of the Boys & Girls Club and now chairing the board, I find myself asking a different question, from the original “why did I do this?” to “why would I not do this?”
The Ukiah Boys and Girls Club is a critical part of caring for young people in this community. The club is here all year long as a safe place for kids after school but, importantly, also during the long summer holidays when local kids need a place to hang out, to have fun, meet up with other kids and get the mentoring that helps them grow into well-adjusted adults.
This drive means so much to keeping the club’s doors open during the summer when the population of kids goes up and the need is so great. There is no donation that is too small – or too large.
Donations may be sent to Boys and Girls Club, P.O. Box 67, Ukiah, CA 95482.
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