United Way : “Seeing is Believing Bus Tour” PART 3: Boys and Girls Club

Posted byStella Garcia 1 Comment on United Way : “Seeing is Believing Bus Tour” PART 3: Boys and Girls Club

This is the 3rd (and last post) in the series about the “Seeing is Believing Bus Tour” organized by United Way Ottawa.

To read Part 1 CLICK HERE

To read Part 2 CLICK HERE

Green logo of the boys and girls clubs of canada

Among the many social services that United Way supports is the Boys and Girls Club on Pinecrest, so we also made a stop there on our “Seeing is Believing Bus Tour” to get a better idea of what they do. The Boys and Girls Club currently gets 20% of its funding from United Way.

The Boys and Girls Club provides services for over 4,600 children and youth in our city. More than 600 kids are registered as part of the after-school homework program!  There are 8 locations in Ottawa with facilities that truly amazed me. Two of the clubs in Ottawa even have swimming pools where they teach kids how to swim in order to prevent drowning. The Club is moving towards removing all membership fees for kids so that no child has a financial barrier to be a part of the club.

The Boys and Girls Club that we visited has a recording studio being funded by local company Cadence. They also have a gym, many classrooms and a common open area with pool tables. We visited the rec room which is generally for the older kids and has comfy furniture, several computers, a bookshelf stocked with books, and even a big screen TV that was donated to the club by Daniel Alfredsson.

I was blown away to learn that all these services are available in Ottawa! The Boys and Girls Club are able to be such a great support in the community because of the wonderful people that volunteer with them.  Just last year 1,000 community volunteers donated more than 20,000 hours of their time!!!  Isn’t that amazing? It made me feel like I need to do more with my free time.

I already signed up to start volunteering in January.

Have you?

If you want more information about the Boys and Girls Club of Canada : http://www.bgccan.com/

To view the website of the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa go to:  http://www.bgcottawa.org/

Published by Stella Garcia

I was born and raised in Monterrey on the majestic Sierra Madre mountain range in Mexico. Over 20 years ago my parents gave me my first camera as a birthday gift and ever since I got that simple point and shoot Kodak camera, I have enjoyed looking at the world from behind a lens. Technology has improved and I have upgraded cameras many times since then, but the need to capture a perfect moment remains the same. Photography provides me a way to communicate with others. Digital photography allows me to play with photographs and it enables me to sink deeper in the creative process. I studied photography for the first time in 1995 and continue to enjoy capturing special moments every chance I get.

One reply on “United Way : “Seeing is Believing Bus Tour” PART 3: Boys and Girls Club”

  1. The tour looks like a successful one! And it’s amazing that the volunteers’ numbers ballooned this year. I’m confident that this will grow bigger in the long run. How about some photos of the tour? It would be great if you can post some! =)

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