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Your generous contributions make our activities possible. Thank you!
WHY DONATE?
Read Krystyna's story below.
Did you know that it takes over $900 per day for the Club to stay open to serve a daily average of 130 children?
The BGCU relies on community support to thrive. There are several ways to support the Club, including donating by using our Paypal button above, participating in our annual Ukiah Daily Journal campaign in the spring, or becoming an Annual Sponsor. Click on the blue Annual Sponsor button below for more information.
Why support the BGCU? Here is one perspective, from Krystyna Ruffin, the winner of the 2017 BGCU $1,000 Scholarship:
“To begin, the club has always been a supportive and influential part of my life. I have grown from a member, to a Leader in Training (LIT), to a volunteer, to a junior staff and currently to a staff member all in a span of about ten years. In this time I have also personally grown to take on more leadership roles outside of the club; school presentations are much less nerve racking, I've learned the value in volunteering in my community and the effect it can have on the youth, I've become more compassionate for others and am more willing to help others and be helped myself.
In this transitioning period from member to now staff, I have staff member and teen director Edith Wise-Andrews in particular to thank for helping me grow and become the person I am today. As a member, Edith lead the program SMART Girls to help me prepare for adulthood and all the tough years I would be facing ahead of me. Later, Edith lead the L.I.T program where I could play a leadership role in the club helping younger members with homework and being an overall role model. To this day, even as a staff, I look up to Edith and her diligence and commitment to helping the children at the club.
One of the most rewarding things coming and working at the club is seeing the members blossom throughout the years. I love working with the kids I've known since I helped them tie their shoes to now seeing them growing up and maturing. It's a really special bond that not everyone gets to experience and it's something that is really important to me.
Currently, I am the staff for the second grade Power Hour group and I absolutely love my job and the children that I interact with every day. The children in our community are so bright and loving and I am very honored to be able to be part of the solution to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”
“To begin, the club has always been a supportive and influential part of my life. I have grown from a member, to a Leader in Training (LIT), to a volunteer, to a junior staff and currently to a staff member all in a span of about ten years. In this time I have also personally grown to take on more leadership roles outside of the club; school presentations are much less nerve racking, I've learned the value in volunteering in my community and the effect it can have on the youth, I've become more compassionate for others and am more willing to help others and be helped myself.
In this transitioning period from member to now staff, I have staff member and teen director Edith Wise-Andrews in particular to thank for helping me grow and become the person I am today. As a member, Edith lead the program SMART Girls to help me prepare for adulthood and all the tough years I would be facing ahead of me. Later, Edith lead the L.I.T program where I could play a leadership role in the club helping younger members with homework and being an overall role model. To this day, even as a staff, I look up to Edith and her diligence and commitment to helping the children at the club.
One of the most rewarding things coming and working at the club is seeing the members blossom throughout the years. I love working with the kids I've known since I helped them tie their shoes to now seeing them growing up and maturing. It's a really special bond that not everyone gets to experience and it's something that is really important to me.
Currently, I am the staff for the second grade Power Hour group and I absolutely love my job and the children that I interact with every day. The children in our community are so bright and loving and I am very honored to be able to be part of the solution to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”