This July, stop by your neighborhood Bashas or Food City and donate to the Valley Boys & Girls Club. How? By participating in the Peanut Butter & Jelly Drive.

Simply buy a Peanut Butter or Jelly icon at the register when you check out and 100% of the donations will help feed the kids at Valley Boys & Girls Club. Need more info? Cooney and Curtis can tell you more. Click here to watch their video.

Known as "The Positive Place for Kids," the Boys & Girls Clubs provide quality character development programs on a daily basis for children 6-18 years old in a safe, supervised environment. Key Club programs emphasize leadership development, education & career exploration, financial literacy, health & life skills, the arts, sports, fitness & recreation, plus family outreach.

Our Club was one of the recent recipients of a brand-new, state-of-the-art printer donated by Hewlett-Packard Company. Through its Global Social Investment organization, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) was selected to receive a total of 105 HP Color LaserJet 9500hdn printers (estimated value of $8,000/each).

BGCA, in turn, identified 105 Club organizations (yay! we made the cut!) that had the capacity and need for this high-production printer. This printer will allow our Club to print high-quality materials that we would have otherwise had to pay an outside service to produce. This will result in a great cost savings to our organization.

A big thanks to HP for their support of our Club and its mission in serving youth!

It has been a great summer break for the kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. In a few weeks, kids will go back to school and this means that the Clubs will shift to their after-school schedule.

Before we finish our summer programs we want to share with you some of the great opportunities our kids received this summer:

* Circus Trip - A group of 75 kids had the opportunity to see an elephant paint, then enjoyed dinner at Cooperstown Phoenix and then were able to relax to see the Best Show on Earth, the Ringling Brothers & Barnum Bailey.

* Telluride - a small group of kids also attended the Wild West Fest 2008 in Telluride, Colorado. Kids enjoyed activities such as golfing, fly fishing, horseback ridding, ranching, and trick roping for a whole week. For many of them, this was their first time having contact with a horse and playing in snow. They had a blast!

* Surprise Bike event - Close to 70 kids also received free bikes as a surprise when they attended an Odyssey bike event for Procter and Gamble. Kids attended the event without knowing they would receive a bike in the end. They were thrilled!

Many other opportunities took place such as a trip to the Carl Ripken Baseball Camp, a trip to Camp Swift and visits to museums and parks.

We would like to thank all of those caring individuals who helped provide kids with a unique opportunity to leave the city and have some pretty amazing experiences.

The Clubs will be returning to their after-school activities! The following is a list of dates when the Clubs will begin the after-school schedule opening at 2:30 p.m. and closing at 8:00 p.m. For a complete list of activities please contact your nearest Club.

August 4
Warner A. Gabel Branch
Herbert Kieckhefer Branch
I. G. Homes Branch
Woodrow C. Scoutten/Tolleson Branch
Tri-City West/Thornwood Branch

August 11
Harry & Sandy Rosenzweig Branch
Jerry & Helen Wisotsky/Peoria Branch
Louis & Elizabeth Sands Branch

August 18
Spencer D. & Mary Jane Stewart Branch

There are a variety of other activities going on throughout the month. Call your local Club for more information and a complete schedule.

BRANCH DEVELOPMENT BOARD POKER TOURNAMENT
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Graham Central Station

DRY HEAT ALL-STAR VARIETY SHOW
August 4, 2008
Dodge Theatre

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS DAY FOR KIDS
September 20, 2008
All Clubs will be hosting activities

For more info on these events, call (602) 954-8182 or visit www.bgcmp.org 

Kid of the Month Marbella Garza

The FSN Arizona Character Counts Kid of the Month for the Woodrow C. Scoutten/Tolleson Branch is Marbella Garza.

Marbella is 12 years old and is in the 8th grade where she is receiving good grades. She has been a member of the school’s volleyball team for the last two years and has become a star player. Marbella has been a long time member of the club and has been attending since she was 5 years old.

Marbella has participated in many activities and programs through out the years including Volleyball, Basketball, Kickball, Torch Club, Art Web, Smart Girls, Zoom Science, Camp Swift, and Los Abrigados.

Three years ago Marbella was chosen to represent the Tolleson Boys & Girls Club as their Kid of the Year 2005. She was very proud of this honor and hopes to use it as a foundation for her future success. She dreams of attending college, graduating and coming back to help her family. She most definitely has goals for herself and will work hard to succeed.

Due to her outstanding character and leadership, we are proud to name Marbella Garza as the FSN Arizona Character Counts Kid of the Month. Congratulations, Marbella!

Volunteer Scott Johnson has been a great addition to the Harry & Sandy Rosenzweig Branch family. Twice a week he volunteers during Power Hour to help tutor the club kids. Scott and the kids really enjoy working together to figure out how to do their math and reading homework. Scott says “The first time you come to the club you are not sure if your helping but then when you come the 2nd and 3rd time and the kids are yelling your name asking for help you know you are making a difference.”

His patience and encouragement has helped many struggling students improve in their school work. When the kids don’t have homework they just come up to Scott with books they want help reading. The whole experience has been rewarding for both Scott and the kids.

Scott tells us the kids really want the help from volunteers and are excited that you will take the time to help them. He encourages others to volunteer their time as tutors. Thank you Scott for volunteering to make a difference with our club kids!!

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix has three different fundraising boards and Clubhouse groups that offer a variety of opportunities to match your talents. If you are interested in learning more about volunteering, please visit our website at www.bgcmp.org or call (602) 954-8182.