The Advisory Board of the North Kitsap Boys & Girls Club, an after-school program at Kingston Middle School, provides this update.
Fifty-seven kids are members of the North Kitsap Boys & Girls Club this year, with 20-plus kids routinely attending on a drop-in basis. We operate Monday through Thursday till 6 p.m. Our program is affiliated with Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, an affiliate of the national organization, which has a policy of making these clubs available to kids for no more than $30 per year.
Activities include a homework “Power Half-Hour” that helps kids make better grades, cooking lessons once a week, and occasional field trips. The kids are also planning service projects again this year.
Funding is mostly (75 percent) obtained from the community. Our third annual Valentine’s Gala, an Evening of Romance, took place Feb. 12 at the Oak Table Cafe and Firehouse Theater in downtown Kingston. The fun included champagne, chocolate and hors d’oeuvres, a showing of “Roman Holiday,” and a silent and live auction that together with sponsorships raised more than $17,000 for the North Kitsap Boys & Girls Club.
We are all profoundly grateful for the support shown this event by sponsors, auction item donors, volunteers (including most of the Greater Kingston Kiwanis Club and Kingston High School Key Club volunteers), and a cross-section of Kingston bankers who helped us keep donor records straight.
We thank Craig Smith for the use of the theater, and Ross and Nikki McCurdy for the use of the Oak Table, Mimi Smith-Danielson and her staff for their catering services, and Kingston Mail & Print for their superb printing support.
The funds raised guarantee that the program will continue while we raise money for the permanent all-ages Boys & Girls Club in the new community center at the Village Green.
Staff includes Director Lonna Bowers and Assistant Director Karen Meier, who knock themselves out to make these activities happen. We also have outstanding volunteers; Dave Hill, Lyn Playle and Les Poole are regulars. We also had some excellent furniture donated by Rob Lanfear of Watson Furniture. We greatly appreciate all of these contributions.
Grants have steadily come in from the Suquamish Tribe Appendix X funds, the Greater Kingston Kiwanis, the Early Irons Club, the Windermere Foundation, and individual donors. Ginny Bell has been writing our grant applications — that’s much appreciated, as is the support of these generous organizations.
