Change starts here.
Change starts here.
For 10-year old Langley resident Chris, the Boys and Girls Club is a family tradition.
It all started with his mother. Jodi Molloy was in the Boys and Girls Club in Kamloops from about 1975 to 1978.
“It kept me out of trouble, it kept me off the streets and involved in activities. I really appreciated having somewhere to go,” says Jodi.
When she was a single mother with her daughters Amber and Rachel, Jodi was on a fixed income and on social assistance. The girls benefited from the Langley Boys and Girls Club. The organization has its roots in the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Vancouver, that was founded in 1936 and receives funding from United Way of the Lower Mainland.
“I wasn’t getting by so well but I knew that when the girls came by here after school that they would have a snack,” says Jodi. “That was very important for me being a single parent and not having very much.”
Now Jodi’s son Chris is an old hand at the club. He’s been there the longest compared to the other children. Like his sisters before him, Chris started at the club when he was six. He has benefited from the wide range of social, health, educational and recreational services of the club, which he attends daily through the school year and throughout the summer as well.
Chris likes the fact that he can easily pick and choose activities that he wants to do. Options range from watching movies to playing pool or enjoying any of the sports he loves, including basketball, soccer, football and hockey. On one day, the kids took a field trip to watch the BC Lions practice football and Chris got a team picture autographed. And Chris is practically inseparable from his autographed football.
“There’s that age group of boys where you need to find something to keep them busy, to keep them focused,” says Jodi.
Jodi has noticed how Chris has grown through the program and how the strong leadership at the club helps many of the children at the club by giving them role models and someone to talk to.
“There’s me and my husband at home but for some of these little guys it’s pretty rough. It’s a huge impact for this community to have this club here,” says Jodi, noting that there are few options for many of the low-income single parents in the area.
“He’s come so far. The leadership has been wonderful for him. I’m hoping that one day he’ll come back and be a leader too,” says Jodi. “I think he’d be a really good leader.”
United Way of the Lower Mainland is committed to helping school-age children to be healthy and resilient.
There are many at risk children age 6 to 12 in the Lower Mainland. During middle childhood, at risk kids for example, face social isolation and declining self-esteem. If we aren’t helping kids during middle childhood, the challenges increase as children move into adolescence. United Way of the Lower Mainland invests in research to identify what children need for their healthy development during middle childhood. We’re helping kids by funding out-of-school programs and educational programs for parents.
Stay Connected