Area Boys & Girls Clubs receive $650,000 from Walmart Foundation

BENTONVILLE — About two dozen children from area Boys & Girls Clubs licked sticky fingers and wiped messy faces after enjoying the fruit pizzas they made at Brightwater on Thursday morning.

They are just a fraction of about 4,000 children who will benefit from $650,000 the Walmart Foundation gave to three clubs.

The money will help offset program costs to Boys & Girls Club of Benton County, the Boys & Girls Club of Western Benton County and the Donald W. Reynolds Boys & Girls Club of Fayetteville, said Erin Hogue, the Foundation’s senior manager of Northwest Arkansas giving.

Hogue presented a large check to leaders of the three clubs during a news conference at Brightwater in the 8th Street Market.

Chef Dean Fearing, a guest chef of Bite NWA Arkansas, lead a children’s cooking class after the presentation.

Bite is a two- day food festival that began Thursday and will conclude tonight and is part of the LPGA’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

“We’re extremely blessed and grateful to Walmart and everyone involved to allow these opportunities for our young people,” Todd Huff with the Boys & Girls Club of Benton County said during the check presentation.

“We want to help make a positive impact in our community with our kids by focusing on our core areas of academic success, character and leadership, and healthy lifestyles.”

The three area Boys & Girls Clubs serve nearly 4,000 children: 2,200 in the club of Benton County, 920 in the club of Western Benton County and 1,700 in the club of Fayetteville, according to a news release.

The $650,000 is the total of three grants, each specific to the needs of the individual clubs, Hogue said after the event.

The Foundation has had a “long- time partnership” with the area’s Boys & Girls Clubs, she said.

Part of the Foundation’s work is to invest in programs that enhance the quality of life in the area and support programming that is accessible to all members in the region.

“The Boys & Girls Club partnership is something great because we can help provide scholarships or programming support that allow their children and families to utilize their facilities at a cost that fits within their budget,” Hogue said.

The Boys & Girls Club of Western Benton County was able to lower its after school and summer program fees “across the board” for the last three years in large part to its partnership with the Foundation, said Chris Shimer, CPO of the club.

The club is headquartered in Siloam Springs and has locations in Gravette, Decatur and Gentry, which opened last fall.

Shimer explained the club and Foundation teamed together three years ago to f igure out how to make programs more accessible not only to families in poverty but also working families who were just above the poverty line and didn’t qualify for benefits.

The summer program fees were reduced from $45 to $ 50 a week to $20 for a four- week session, Shimmer said.