Boys & Girls Club of Allentown

We want to extend a big Thank You to the Kiwanis Foundation of Allentown for awarding BGCA a grant of $1,000 for our Make Your M.A.R.K.ᵀᴹ program! They were even more generous to invite us to their grant recipient luncheon yesterday. Thank You for your continued support of our BGCA kids!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Our Turner Street Clubhouse is CLOSED today, December 1st, 2023. All other Clubhouses are open at our regular hours.

Our friends from QNB Bank stopped by yesterday with a check from the EITC program! We are extremely grateful for your generosity, and from everyone here at BGCA, thank you!

This Giving Tuesday, your donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown will give more kids here in Allentown the meals, mentors, and safe places they need to make their world a little less complicated: https://givebutter.com/BGCAHolidays

Thanks to the generosity of the Larson Family Foundation, your donation will go even further! They are matching all donations dollar for dollar this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!! We are extremely thankful to UNFI for donating some turkeys for our members' families this year. Because of your generosity, our kids and their families will have a great meal today!

We have so much to be thankful for this time of year, including you, our generous supporters! This Thanksgiving and always, THANK YOU for giving kids the simple things that make their world a little less complicated.

Nature is art! Club members at our Sixth Street Clubhouse made some trees using real fall leaves. Those smiles are just a glimpse as to how much fun they had!

We love a good STEM activity! Our Turner Street members were having fun in a challenging cup stacking competition, using teamwork to make it happen.

The world is complicated. Helping kids is simple. This holiday season, help us make their world less complicated:

Holiday Giving at BGCA The world is complicated. Helping kids is simple

We want to extend a huge Thank You to Ciocca Dealerships for donating winter coats to our members! We appreciate your support as our kids will be able to stay warm this winter!

From now through Nov. 7th, you'll have the opportunity to "round up" your purchase at Nowhere Coffee Co. and have the funds go directly to BGCA! Nowhere Coffee Co. will also be matching a portion of the proceeds! Thank you, Nowhere Coffee Co.! Treat yourself to a delicious coffee, tea, or snack at one of their two locations:

3127 Tilghman Street, Allentown, PA 18104

318 Main Street, Emmaus, PA 18049

You can even order ahead online - https://www.nowherecoffeeco.com/

Our Teen Center and Turner Street members were able to enjoy some water painting and built some edible haunted houses as part of Lights On Afterschool. Lights On Afterschool is a project dedicated to ensuring all kids have access to quality afterschool programs. Our kids love coming here every day!

Happy Halloween! Our Turner Street members were able to celebrate with a costume contest, eyeball relay, ghost waiter relay, and other themed games. This was a well-deserved break from their hard work this school year!

Thank you, Lehighvalleynews.com, for this wonderful article about our awesome CEO!

Retiring Boys & Girls Club of Allentown leader left legacy: An open door After 40 years with the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown, CEO Deb Fries-Jackson is retiring. The Allentown native and former school teacher was instrumental in the merger of the local Girls Club and Boys Club in 2002.

Now that we have shared the bittersweet news of Deb Fries-Jackson’s retirement, we have the daunting task of hiring BGCA’s next CEO. Could that visionary leader be you or someone you know? Read the full job description and apply here: https://www.indeed.com/job/chief-executive-officer-573dbfdc8c8ebf63

Last night, members from 3 of our Clubhouses were able to enjoy Suites and Treats at Coca-Cola Park. Our kids had a blast! Thank you to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and IronPigs Charities for hosting a wonderful event in a safe, welcoming environment!

The Boys & Girls Club of Allentown's CEO, Deb Fries-Jackson, has announced her retirement after more than four decades of dedicated service. We extend our heartfelt appreciation for Deb's exceptional contributions and wish her a fulfilling and joyful retirement! Read the full news release here: https://bit.ly/bgcanewsrelease1018

The Boys & Girls Club of Allentown's CEO, Deb Fries-Jackson, has announced her retirement after more than four decades of dedicated service. We extend our heartfelt appreciation for Deb's exceptional contributions and wish her a fulfilling and joyful retirement! Read the full news release here: https://bit.ly/bgcanewsrelease1018

Over the past week, our members have been able to learn about growing fresh vegetables with our hydroponic garden. They helped harvest some lettuce, and then were able to enjoy a healthy and delicious salad bar!

Another arts and crafts project in the books! Our Sixth Street kids were able to make beautiful sunsets painting with watercolors. This really got the creative juices flowing!

Our friends at Lutron Electronics are doing some remodeling, so they donated some furniture for our Clubhouses! Our staff got to pick out tables, cabinets, office supplies, and over 70 of these awesome chairs! Thanks for giving our Clubhouses a fresh new look, Lutron!

Thanks to the Da Vinci Science Center our Sixth Street members were able to learn more about animals and insects. They were event surprised with live Pillbugs!

Our Sixth Street kids were able to paint some ceiling tiles for our Clubhouse. This is a great way for them to express their creativity! They all came out great!

Our Make Your M.A.R.K.ᵀᴹ program is under way for this 2023-2024 school year, and our kids are eager to sharpen their academic skills. This is a great way for our Club members to keep learning in a safe, welcoming environment!

We love teaching our kids how to make healthy and tasty snacks! Our Sixth Street Clubhouse kids were able to make their own homemade salsa, with veggies and ingredients all grown right here. Just look at those smiles!

A tremendous THANK YOU to all our donors, staff, and volunteers for another successful Great Futures Celebration last night! Thank you for supporting our amazing Club kids!!

Our Cumberland Gardens kids love playing in the gym to stay active. It's a great way to get moving after school and to build some friendships along the way!

Check these out! Here is a sneak preview of the bracelets, made by our Club members, available if you Sponsor a Child and attend our Great Futures Celebration event on Thursday, September 21st at Lehigh Country Club from 5-8pm. Our kids have worked long and hard to make these and they came out fantastic! Want to Sponsor a Child? Click here: https://givebutter.com/greatfuturescelebration

Last week, we had volunteers stop by our Turner Street Clubhouse to help us do some back-to-school cleanup, as part of United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley's ! Thank you to Air Products Community Relations and Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley for spending time to make our facility spotless!

Wish you could have been there when BGCA member Ebony L. was selected as the Pennsylvania Youth of the Year? Come to our Great Futures Celebration and hear her award winning speech! https://givebutter.com/greatfuturescelebration

Who doesn't love playing with dogs?! Our Turner Street Club members were lucky enough to meet and learn about Seeing Eye dogs, an experience that they can share with their family and friends!

Our Sixth Street Club members loved getting to meet Captain the Horse earlier this summer! Thanks to Pennsylvania Equine Council for teaching the kids about what goes into taking care of horses!

Our Great Futures Celebration is just ONE WEEK from today! It's not too late to purchase a ticket or Sponsor a Child - https://givebutter.com/greatfuturescelebration. We hope you can join us for this fun evening!

This week's Summer Recap email newsletter features photos from all the amazing field trips our Club kids got to enjoy this summer! Check out the photos here: bit.ly/bgcanlfieldtrips23