The Boys & Girls Club of Jacksonville is part of a larger affiliation of Clubs through the Boys & Girls Club of America. This organization is made up of over 4,000 local autonomous organizations serving nearly 4,000,000 kids across the US.
The Boys & Girls Club of America supports each local club and helps them provide the following programs to youth in each community – Education & Career, Character & Leadership, Health & Life Skills, The Arts, and Sports, Fitness, & Recreation. In addition, they also support specific Clubs with Specialized Programs.
The Boys & Girls Club of Jacksonville was founded in 1969. Community members in the city realized that there was a pressing need for a positive place for kids to go after school and during the summer – to get help with homework, to be active, to receive a meal, and to cut down on summer learning loss. Their facility on Graham Road was built almost entirely through donations and volunteered labor.
Nearly 50 years later, their hard work has returned tenfold. The Boys & Girls Club of Jacksonville has served over kids, fed over X mouths, and been a constant safe haven for after school and summer activities.
We’ve accomplished a lot, but there’s still so much to do. Our dream is to add on to our facility and increase our staff so we can support more youth in our building, set up remote after-school Club locations at all of the schools in Jacksonville, increase our computer literacy programs, add a soccer league, and continue to fight against summer learning loss.
In 2016, with the support of Crain Ford of Jacksonville and in partnership with AR Kids Read, we have launched our first ever “Read for Success” Program where we will be encouraging summer reading, giving away books to our youth, and rewarding them with field trips and other activities. These types of programs are vital to ensure that our kids are achieving good grades and staying on the right track.
We need your help to continue offering and expanding these programs.