Photo taken in March 2019 in honor of Central Minnesota’s Noon Optimists’ participation in the Partners for the Future program.
On September 29, 2020, the Central Minnesota Noon Optimist Club voted to award Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota with a $10,000 grant to support Project Learn programming during COVID-19.
“We are so thankful for this grant to support Boys & Girls Club staff providing academic support to our youth this school year,” said Vice President of Development Deb Nebosis. “Our Clubs are open longer hours this school year to provide homework help and tutoring to youth during hybrid and distance learning, as well as after school.”
She said that Clubs are open Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. for youth in grades K-12 to ensure that kids have a positive place to receive the help they need when they are not in school.
Nebosis said that the Boys & Girls Club is also providing a concentrated effort to support the youth that are not able to join the Club in person with virtual homework help and tutoring in the form of phone calls and Zoom meetings. Club staff are working to formalize this virtual homework help program over the next few months.
“Due to COVID-19, youth across our community are now considered at-risk,” said Nebosis. “Boys & Girls Club is working harder than ever to reach the youth who need us most, and we can’t thank Central Minnesota Noon Optimists enough for their support of our mission!”
“The Central Minnesota Noon Optimists are volunteers focused on bringing out the best in ourselves, our community and our youth,” said Central MN Noon Optimist President Sandy Nadeau. “We are proud to support organizations like the Boys & Girls Club that help make the future brighter and more optimistic for our youth.”