Scholarship Program with StonehamBank Allows More Families to Enjoy Summer Camp
By Maty Swartz
BGCGB is making sure that more kids in Billerica have the chance to go to camp this summer with help from StonehamBank. As one of BGCGB’s longest and most dedicated supporters, Stoneham Bank has generously provided our Club with $20,000 to fund our Summer Camp Scholarship Program.
Collectively, our organizations have been serving the Greater Billerica community for several decades—and we are seeing local families struggling now more than ever before. While we are no longer in the throes of a global pandemic, many families are still grappling with the economic fallout of the past few years. From 2020 onward, the cost of living has only increased, with interest rates, rent, and housing prices at an unprecedented high. Even everyday necessities like groceries have increased in price by a rate of 3.1%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sadly, no community is immune to this economic downturn, including ours.
By partnering with StonehamBank, BGCGB hopes to help local families enjoy a more carefree summer by reducing barriers to our Summer Camp program. All kids should have access to safe spaces, enriching programs, experiential learning, and the chance to make new friends during their summer break. At present, our Summer Camp provides full-day programming for nearly 300 youth in grades 2-8. We group campers by age in order to plan age-appropriate activities that entertain, challenge, inspire, and educate our youth. Each week, our campers go on field trips to local beaches, museums, summer attractions, and other fun locations. We also provide a teen leadership program for ages 14-16.
This partnership with StonehamBank is helping us expand these offerings to more children in our community—and by extension, their parents.
One mom of three was recently awarded Summer Camp scholarships. She has been a Club parent for 14 years, and she is thrilled that her youngest kids have the opportunity to participate in Summer Camp this year. She shared: “We feel so blessed to be a part of the Boys & Girls Club and are so incredibly grateful to every single member of Stoneham Bank who has so generously provided the scholarship to make things a little easier on us financially this summer.” This Club Mom has been battling cancer since 2018 and says that this support from StonehamBank could not have arrived at a better time.
Mom also shared: “What the Club provides, and what you sponsor, is a huge part of what makes it so I can keep fighting in order to stay alive and try to see them grow up. My husband and I often look back over the past 14 years of being a club family and remark on how we never could have gotten this far without the support of the Club and its donors.”
The Boys & Girls Club looks forward to welcoming more families like this one to our program this summer. Camp is set to begin on July 1 and conclude on August 9. For more information about camp enrollment, scholarships, and more, please visit: https://www.billericabgc.com/summer-camp-2024
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