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BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OFFER HOPE AND ENCOURAGEMENT DURING DISCOURAGING TIMES
Annual Positive Place for Kids Campaign Kicks Off
CHARLOTTE, NC (February 27, 2009) - Schools and local governments are coping with budget shortfalls by cutting programs and limiting after-school activities for boys and girls in Mecklenburg County. But The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs are standing strong, maintaining services in eight critical-needs neighborhoods.
"Parents are struggling right now, and it is more important than ever to give children and teens a positive outlook on life," said Rob Brownlow, chair of the 2009 "Positive Place for Kids" fund-raising drive for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Charlotte. "Last year, our local clubs served 2,100 youth, but we know there are even more who need our help."
The annual campaign will kick off on March 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the Marsh Road Boys & Girls Club (map). Club members, parents, and alumni will be on site, sharing why the Boys & Girls Clubs are important to them.
One of those special guests is 18 year-old Sabria Joiner, the Boys & Girls Club 2008 Youth of the Year for North and South Carolina. Sabria is in the 12th grade at CPCC's Cato Middle College High School and is a member of the Milton Road Club (map).
"This place acts like a firewall against viruses and erases my problems the minute I walk in the door," Sabria said. "The Club is somewhere I can come and just be myself."
The Salvation Army operates Boys & Girls Clubs in low-income neighborhoods where there are few positive after-school options. Several clubs are in Charlotte Housing Authority sites where the average income is less than $7,000; there is a club at the Center of Hope shelter for homeless women and children, the only shelter-based club in the nation.
For more information on The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs, contact 704-716-ARMY.
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Immediate Release!
Members of the media, WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Please help us reach past members.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Charlotte are calling all alumni. We need your feedback. If you are a past member of the Boys and Girls Clubs, we invite you to take a short survey to tell us what kind of impact the Clubs had on your life. This short survey is critical to the future direction and planning for the Clubs. To participate in the survey, go to www.bgccharlotte.org and click on the Alumni survey.
The Charlotte community has plenty of alumni living here that were a product of our local Clubs or Clubs in their hometown. We would like to know who you are and where you are now.
Club Info
For 75 years, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Charlotte have served Mecklenburg County by investing in the youth of our most vulnerable neighborhoods. Our mission is to inspire all young people to realize their full potential as productive, responsible caring citizens. More than 2,100 Club members find positive role models and a safe place to grow at one of the eight Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Charlotte.
Since 1934, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Charlotte have been a division of The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte.
January 23, 2009
Contact: Jim Price @ 704-621-6328
