The Value of Being a Boys & Girls Club Member: Creating Futures

The value of being a Club member

By Travis Crowder, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley and Brett Zunino, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada

Everyone needs somewhere safe to go. This is especially true for our communities’ kids. At the very basic level of what our Clubs do, we provide a safe, positive and fun space for youth and teens to spend their time out of school. But, as our organizations have grown, and our capacity to serve youth and their families has increased, we have become so much more than just space. We create futures. We show proven results. We are the go-to in our communities for kids and teens looking to get the help they need now, or those looking to get a head start and a leg up on life for their future. And we do this all for minimal fees with multiple financial assistance opportunities available.

It’s no secret that youth in our country, state and communities aren’t always where they should be in school. Whether it’s trailing reading levels, flattening off math scores or an overall need for more help, our kids aren’t performing in the classroom like they need to be. An assessment in 2022 found that nearly half of Nevada’s fourth-graders weren’t reading at grade level. But, for Club members, the story is different. In fact, 95 percent – yes, 95 PERCENT – of our Club members are reading at or above grade level. How? Our Clubs offer daily homework help, tutoring, partnerships with our local schools for after-school education and rich, robust education programs like Power Hour, Project Learn and Summer Brain Gain. Club members get As and Bs more often than their non-Club-attending peers, score higher on their math and reading tests and have an overall better experience in school.

Club members also get a head start on life and are better positioned for success with the soft skills they learn and the full services we provide. Kids and teens get a better handle of their emotions, what they are and how they affect their decision making with our health and wellness programming like Emotional Wellness and Positive Action. They also learn what it means to lead a truly healthy lifestyle, learning about the dangers of drug and alcohol use in SMART Moves, developing a balanced diet in Healthy Habits, and getting active in Daily Challenges and All-Stars. Our clubhouses offer in-house behavioral specialists and therapists, provided an extra resource for the kids, teens and families that need it. A child (who then grows into a teen, who then grows into an adult) that is emotionally sound, educated and ready to take on the world and its challenges is a young person who is bound for success.

All of that being said, we are still very, very good at the basics. When a Club member walks into one of our clubhouses, they’re entering a place full of caring and professionally-trained staff, ready to help them learn, grow and – most importantly – HAVE FUN! Whether it’s a game of basketball in the gym, building the biggest Lego tower ever constructed, getting creative with some painting and crafts, or just hanging out playing video games with their friends, kids can come to the Club and truly get to just be kids. Half of America’s youth are typically alone while they’re out of school. Not at the Club. While we’re a great resource for hard-working parents, we’re an equally great resource for families just looking for a place for their kid or teen to be and better themselves. Our clubhouses also offer meals daily, complementing what the schools do and covering breakfast and lunch on school breaks.

As you can see, the benefits of being a Club member are endless. What we’re incredibly proud of is the low price point we offer all of this. For around $1 an hour, the youngest members of our communities get the tools, resources, knowledge and skills they need to grow up to be successful. Compare that to the cost of a babysitter, a burger at McDonalds or a couple of streaming services for the month, and the value of being a Club member is clear! Further, for families who may not be able to afford that, our organizations offer numerous financial aid opportunities to either reduce or eliminate the cost.

There’s great value in being a kid. There’s great value in learning, growing and exploring outside of the classroom. And there’s the greatest value when the two can be combined. No other youth program combines meals, education, sports leagues, mental health support, career prep and more. That is what we do here at Boys & Girls Clubs.