As we enter the fourth week of fundraising for the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club’s Healthy Happy Kids, the Martha’s Vineyard Teddy Bear Suite has raised $22,500.
This year’s teddy bear suite was an overwhelming success. We had so many visitors, old and new. Seeing the joy and holiday magic the suite brings to kids of all ages is truly a gift, and we love that the suite has become so much of a part of the holiday tradition on the Island.
Surpassing our original goal of $20,000, we thought it was important to keep going to raise money for the Club’s program that provides free food for the hundreds of Island children who are a part of the After School Program. We are working to now raise at least $25,000. With this year, we have, with your help, raised over $100,000 for the Club over the last seven years. An incredible amount of money, all for Island children.
With the addition of Healthy Happy Kids, the Club has seen an improvement in kid’s behavior, more focus and participation in the homework club, and a lot more smiles. It’s amazing when one’s basic needs are being met, you can focus on other things, like being a kid.
Healthy Happy Kids now cost $50,000 per school year to run, up dramatically from last year. More and more kids are part of the Club’s After School Program, and that means a lot more mouths to feed. This is great because you know that these children are being offered healthy, free food while at the club.
However, we need you to help fund this amazing program. Through donations at the door when the teddy bear suite was open, events, and online donations, we are working hard to help people learn about Healthy Happy Kids and why it’s so important to support.
Here’s just one example of the impact of the Club on a child’s life that executive director Jessie Damroth shared with us:
Jason and his mom do not have a permanent place to live. They move between rented rooms every few weeks to relatives’ and friend’ couches. His mom works 3 jobs to just survive here on the Island, where her family has lived and worked for 9 generations. As an 8-year-old 3rd grader, Jason was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, falling behind in school, and socially he wasn’t fitting in. It was affecting his mom’s ability to fully focus during her shifts. Then one day, his mom heard about the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club After School Program from a co-worker and she walked into our Club. In an instant, their lives changed.
“He finally has a kitchen to go to when he is hungry after school, and a quiet place with a computer to do his homework,” she said. “He has friends and doesn’t feel so alone. And he is safe.”
For the past 80 years, the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club has been providing thousands of Island youth with life changing programs to prepare them for healthy and productive lives.
What your donation can provide:
$50 feeds 25 children for one day
$100 feeds 50 children for one day
$200 feeds all the children for one day
$1,000 feeds one child from September to June
It’s amazing that $200, a dinner out for most, can feed so many kids for an entire afternoon at the Club. Makes you feel good to know that YOU can do that, be the one that helps them not go hungry.
Together, we can continue to fight childhood hunger. Together, we can help kids be free to be kids after school. Together, we can be the their everyday heroes.
To make a donation, click here. If you’d like to find out more about the Martha’s Vineyard Teddy Bear Suite, visit mvteddybearsuite.com
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