To celebrate the 35th anniversary of D. Noblin, Danny Gray, owner of D. Noblin Furniture and D. Noblin Mattress Firm, donated bikes through the Salvation Army to area organizations including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi. The D. Noblin Tikes, Trikes and Goodnights event Saturday was wonderful. Thank you Mr. Gray and Salvation Army!
St. Dominic Health Services, Inc. Care-A-Van and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi are partnering to provide free heath screenings to BGCCM kids. Members of the Care-A-Van team worked with Canton Unit kids today, checking their height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure, heart rate, vision and hearing. St. Dominic’s and the BGCCM are working hard to keep our Club members healthy! The Care-A-Van will visit the other BGCCM Clubs later this month. Thank you St. Dominic Care-A-Van team!
BGCCM Capitol Unit President Talia, 11, Vice President Kaleb, 11, and their Executive Assistant Jennifer, 11, host a tour of their Club for Phoenix Club of Jackson members Thursday. The Phoenix Club, the sole purpose of which is to fundraise and support the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi, has contributed more than $155,000 since it’s inception in 2007. You’re always welcome at the BGCCM, Phoenix Club members. Thanks for your support!
The RDC Mobile Dental Clinic team works with the kids of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi, giving them free dental screening during the first few days of summer session. The screening includes a cleaning, digital x-rays, and fillings, sealants and referrals if needed. The RDC Mobile Outreach Program promotes excellence in oral health, providing dental services in non-traditional settings to patients who may not have access to regular to dental care. Thank you RDC Mobile Dental Clinic team. The BGCCM appreciates what you’re doing for our kids!
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi kids and staff, along with Jackson Police officers Tonia Louisville-Jones and Fredrick Suttles, get ready to fly out of the Jackson-Evers International Airport heading to the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation Badges for Baseball camp in Aberdeen, Maryland. They, along with over 50 Club members and staff from across the state, are excited and filled with anticipation about the five-day CRSF experience filled with fun and activities! Kids will work with coaches, using team sports and the Ripken Healthy Choices, Healthy Children curriculum to teach important lessons about teamwork, communication, respect, and leadership that can be used both on and off the field.
Camp John I. Hay Director Charles Jackson and his team are working hard to get the camp ready for our kids. Even before they arrive, Camp Counselor Kismyu Griffith of Jackson volunteers her time cleaning up the girls’ cabin so it will be all set for an influx of young ladies ready for fun. The boys’ cabin will get a good cleaning, too. The pool at our BGCCM camp in Hazlehurst is getting refurbished, thanks to the Camp John I. Hay Pool Restoration Project, made possible through a $13,915 grant from the Finish Line Youth Foundation in Indianapolis. IN. The first round of campers are heading down for a week of fun in the beginning of June!
Dr. Susan G. Weinberger, also known as Dr. Mentor, president of the Mentor Consulting Group in Norwalk, Conn., jots notes in a spiral notebook while moving from table to table watching the Immersion Mentoring program at Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi Sykes Unit as it’s in full swing. Pausing to visit and ask questions of both mentors and mentees, the children are engrossed in an activity called Layers of History.
As they learn about the stages of volcanic eruptions, Dr. Weinberger learns more about the program she helped design. “I designed the mentoring portion of the Immersion Mentoring program as we know it today, and I’m here to see how the program is being carried out,” explains Dr. Weinberger. “I’m going to ask the staff what challenges they’ve have and what successes there have been, and if they got the chance to get more funding to redesign the program, how would they do it differently.”
After the tour, I’m going to talk to staff to really flush out with them to see if the design that’s on paper really works in terms of practice. What we hoped for and what is actually happening may not be quite the same thing. We may need to tweak it a little bit.
I’m really thrilled to be here.”
To the children, Dr. Weinberger is just someone interested in what their doing. They answer her questions politely, then get to work. Using food products with different textures, from crushed rice crispy cereal to Grape-Nuts and mini chocolate chips, they pour material in a specific order, into clear drinking bottles to simulate the stages of volcanic eruptions. Layers of “rock, ash and other materials” appear before the children’s eyes. A small wad of paper simulating a house, placed in the bottle near the first layer, was soon covered under the layers of “volcanic material.” Mentors ask how they would feel if that was their house. Would they like to go back to it? The children respond with an emphatic, “No!”
The kids understand. “They get it,” Dr. Weinberger says.
After the lesson was over, the layers of history became a great-tasting granola. What a treat!
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi has been selected to receive a $2,500 Dollar General Literacy Foundation Summer Reading Program Grant for our Power Hour – Summer Reading Program. Thank you Dollar General for your support of our kids! Great Futures Start Here!
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi kids had a blast at Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation College Day at Mississippi State University! We heard great speakers including MSU President Mark Keenum and Bulldog outfielder Hunter Renfroe. After taking a tour of the campus, Club members had lunch and listened to some inspiriting words from LeRoy Clemons, director of Community Relations at the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at MSU, and Oliver Meyers, asst. professor. of mechanical engineering. With energy running high, it was time to burn off lunch with a game of Quick Ball! The day was topped off with a few words from Kesha Perry from the Kellogg Foundation and MSU Head Baseball Coach John Cohen. What a full day!
With a $35,000 check presented at its Annual Seersucker & Sombreros weekend fundraising event, the Phoenix Club of Jackson brought its total amount contributed to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi to more than $155,000 since the Phoenix Club’s inception in 2007.
“Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi make a significant impact on the lives of children in our community,” said Russell Turley, Phoenix Club of Jackson President. “And these children have made a significant impact on our organization and its members. We are committed to raising funds to sustain a safe, positive, constructive environment for at-risk children in our area.”
After school and summer programs offered at the Boys & Girls Clubs focus on education, character, health, arts and recreation. Program participants boast drastically higher high school graduation rates as compared to the average rates for the Jackson metro area and a 0% teen pregnancy rate among active members. “The results at the Clubs speak for themselves,” said Turley. “We’re proud to be affiliated with an organization that makes such a meaningful impact in the lives of children and lays the groundwork for them to have a productive future.”
It is a relationship the Boys & Girls Clubs have come to value and depend on. “We are very excited about our long term partnership with the Phoenix Club.” said Boys & Girls Club President Billy Redd. “Their dedication, excitement and long-term commitment to the kids set a strong example for our kids and the entire central Mississippi area.”
Since its founding six years ago by a group of local young professionals, the Phoenix Club of Jackson has been dedicated exclusively to fundraising and supporting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi. Funds are raised through a variety of charitable events, including bi-annual fundraising functions supported by local corporate sponsors, luncheons, and holiday gift-card campaigns. To learn more about the efforts of the Phoenix Club, visit their website at www.phoenixclubofjackson.com.
Material Copyright © 2013 Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi
All rights reserved. Web design and web development by Mad Genius.
Follow BGCCM on Twitter
Facebook
Share
Email
Print
About Boys & Girls Clubs
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi (BGCCM) is a non-profit organization that inspires and enables young people to become successful, responsible citizens. Youth benefit from our trained, caring, professional staff and volunteers who help young people take control of their lives, envision productive futures and reach their goals. Continue reading …