How Sun Youth’s summer programs help prepare kids for adulthood
If it wasn’t for Sun Youth’s summer programs for kids, Montrealer Lizanne Murphy may have never played basketball for Canada’s Olympic team.
“Basketball has helped me live out every dream I could have ever had,” said Murphy. “I won a gold medal at the Pan Am games in Toronto. I’ve been to the Olympics twice. I was able to go to school in the States on a full scholarship. I wouldn’t have had any chance to do any of that without Sun Youth. I have them to thank for that.”
Murphy grew up playing sports in Beaconsfield when, in 1996, her parents found out about Sun Youth’s summer basketball team for girls. Coach Les Hughes saw potential in the 12-year-old and had her play on Sun Youth’s senior team for girls aged 17 to 19.
“Mr. Hughes really saw something in me. I was just a dorky, awkward preteen that was taller than everybody. He set me on this path of being competitive and trying to be the best I could be,” said Murphy. “I grew up middle-class in the West Island. Coming into Sun Youth was really cool because we had people from all over town and from different communities.”
Murphy says those summers playing for Sun Youth are among her favourite memories. She is still in touch with many of the friends she met during that time.
Many Montrealers think of Sun Youth as just a food bank for the city’s needy, but it’s so much more, especially in the summer. Much of Sun Youth’s mission is focused on using sports to help young people succeed and become more civic-minded. Their long list of summer programs are designed to do just that.
“I often describe it as building our community,” said Sun Youth spokesperson Ann St-Arnaud. “All the kids that go through the programs at Sun Youth become adults, become supporters of Sun Youth, and become members of the community. For example, most of our coaches participated in the teams as kids, so they know what it’s all about. They’re very attached to the organization and they want to give back what they received as youngsters.”
Sun Youth has numerous programs for kids during the summer, like the basketball team Lizanne Murphy played on, two basketball teams for boys, several football teams, an initiation to baseball program, a basketball day camp for younger kids, a summer day camp, a community garden, their annual bicycle giveaway for deserving children and their bicycle safety patrol.
“All these programs are not only for poor kids,” explained St-Arnaud. “Families that register for them pay according to their income. If they can afford it, they pay the full price; if they can’t, they pay less. That’s why we need donations for these programs.”
She noted that some of the money is used to pay the salaries of the summer staff needed to run the programs, with the added benefit of providing employment to young people in the community.
“We hire a lot of students, so it’s often the first opportunity for them to work; some of them are helping out their own families that are struggling,” said St-Arnaud. “For a lot of summer employees here at Sun Youth, it’s really important to get that job and to be able to have some experience, but also some money to pay for their schooling and be able to help their families. They really learn quite a bit at Sun Youth, and they become a part of our family.”
For many low-income families, summer is especially difficult because parents have to work and can’t be home to look after their children during the daytime.
“Parents trust Sun Youth with the most important thing in their lives: their kids,” St-Arnaud said. “We take it very seriously. We try to teach kids to have fun, to be active, to be open to differences. We also want to teach them to have a good attitude, to work hard and have fun.”
Murphy was one of those kids who learned to work hard and have fun. So she encourages all Montrealers to support Sun Youth’s summer programs either as donors or volunteers.
“They help so many kids with so many programs,” she said. “It’s not just through sports; you can see that with what they’re doing in the community for families that are in need. It’s such a great organization and one of the real jewels of Montreal.”
For more information, or to make a donation, visit sunyouthorg.com.