Boys & Girls Club programs get boost
The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster, with clubhouses in Leominster and Gardner, has received several grants in the past months to support its ongoing efforts in the community.
“This funding has allowed us
to expand our programming and connect with more kids,” Executive Director Donata Martin said on Friday.
In June, the club was awarded a $24,000 grant to support its Youth Workforce Readiness Program.
“The program focuses on providing teens with the skills that employers are looking for,” Martin said.
The Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts made the funding available to support education and career readiness programs in the region.
“We are thrilled to support local nonprofits that are working to make an impact across a variety of areas in our region,” said Steve Adams, president of the Community Foundation.
According to Martin, the program was able to provide summer employment to 18 teenagers with the funding. In past years, teens were connected with jobs in the area, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the club to offer positions internally.
Individuals in the program have been working as junior staff and instructors over the last few months, where they have the opportunity to learn valuable skills like time management, punctuality, coordination, speaking, and leadership.
“Many of the ‘soft skills’ that employers are looking for, students have been learning here,” she said. “There are many jobs going unfilled in this country and employers are looking for these types of skills.”
The Boys & Girls Club was also recently awarded two grants from the U.S. Department of Defense STEM program to support its robotics program.
The grant money will support a group of local students and members of the Boys & Girls Club, Team Terrorbots 3623, which competes in robotics competitions.
This is the third year in
‘The funds are going to help us to
support the kids.’
– Club Director Donata Martin
a row that the program received a $2,500 grant to cover competition application fees, and the first time it received a $2,500 grant for other expenses.
“The funds are going to help us to support the kids in this program,” Martin said.
Martin said students in the program are currently preparing and researching for the upcoming competition season, which has not been announced yet.
“When it happens, they’ll be ready,” Martin said. “They’ve been able to improve a lot of their skills recently and it sort of gives them a jump start on the competition.”
Program Coordinator Jacob Janssens has said the program provides students with important experience. “It brings all of the science education, the technology, engineering, math, and art all together,” Janssens said. “(Students) get real experience with the machines, the safety that comes with that, high-level programming, engineering, and design.”