Club 52

We recently recognized our 52 Club members by having their names displayed on the wall.  This is a great honor because these members have come 52 or more times to club.   The more members come to club on a consistent basis, the more they will succeed at school and life.  Congratulations to our Club 52!  We appreciate your attendance!

Gingerbread House Making

Over the holidays we spent time making gingerbread houses that were donated by Trader Joes. Members were called up by fives and they had to use their teamwork skills  to figure out how to put the gingerbread house together.  They then took turns designing them.  Members had a great time.

Since we had several left over, we raffled them off for members to take these home and complete them with their families. Thanks to Beck Rea, our Kids Feeding Kids Manager for getting the donation.

Coca Cola and the Hanging of the Green

Every year we are fortunate to have Coca-Cola come to our club and decorate it for the holidays. The building looked absolutely beautiful.  Once they decorated the club, they frosted cookies with our members.  They provided a great Holiday dinner that consisted of pasta, bread and salad and helped clean the kitchen.

We were honored to be given a check for $1787.00 from Coca-Cola which we spent on floor hockey jerseys, floor hockey sticks and pucks, gymnastic mats, boxed hockey game and a Wii.  Members were then able to play with these items while Coca-Cola was here.

Thank you to Coca-Cola for your consistent support of our club!  We appreciate it so very much! Click on the link to see the movie I created:  Coca-Cola Hanging of the Green Event

Volunteer Organization Hands Joining Hands

A heartfelt thank you to Janet Gunderson and her volunteer organization from the Children's Hospital called Hands Joining Hands for raising $1041.00 for our members by selling cupcakes.  This money will be used to continually stock our display case with meaningful incentives and allow our members to go on field trips throughout the year.  Your support is greatly appreciated by our staff and our members!

Our 2015-2016 Youth of the Year

The Al Lenzmeier West Side Boys and Girls Club would like to take the time to congratulate Xavier Walden as our 2015-2016 Youth of the Year.  Xavier is a senior at Washington Technology Magnet School.  He currently has a 3.4 cumulative grade point average and a weighted cumulative grade point of 3.7.  

He is very involved in activities both inside and outside of school.  He is currently the captain of his basketball team and is involved in Genius Squad, Black Avid, and the West Side Teen Advisory Council.  He has been a Junior Staff for two years here at the Al Lenzmeier West Side Boys and Girls Club and has participated in Career Launch, Money Matters, Keystone, Passport to Manhood and Triple Play activities.

We are very proud of your accomplishments and wish you the best in next month's competition!

The Kids Can Give Sale

This year our Kids Can Give Sale was a great success.  Members who came to the club had the opportunity to shop for presents for two family members.  We were able to serve 168 members and give out 366 gifts this season.

In addition, three Old Navy stores adopted three of our families to make sure that their Christmas was extra special.  Each family member received things that were on their wish list and were able to pick up these gifts on Monday December 21st all wrapped and ready to be placed under the tree.

Augustana Lutheran Church also came and served our members a Holiday Dinner and their volunteers also helped members wrap their presents that they chose for their family members.  After dinner, the volunteers served members hot cocoa and cookies.

Santa also made a visit and all members interested had the chance to sit on his lap and get their picture taken. Members will receive this photograph as a keepsake from the day.

Thank you to all the staff and volunteers that make this event so magical and special.  Click on the link to watch the movie I created:  Kids Can Give Sale  We appreciate your volunteerism very much!

Self Esteem Dove Event

Recently we closed down the club to host the Girls Dove Self Esteem Project at our location.  All clubs of the Twin Cities brought girls aged 9-17 years old to our site for an evening of fun.  Once the girls arrived, they were given a goodie bag that had a Dove journal inside as well as a beautiful scarf with the Boys and Girls Club logo on it.

Next, they made their way into the cafeteria where the girls were split into groups of 25 to go through the Dove Curriculum.  In these sessions, girls learned about the importance of self esteem and body image and also looked at ways the media influences how we feel about ourselves.  After an hour facilitation, girls had dinner that was catered by a Chinese food company.  While they ate, the girls listened to our guest speaker discuss the endless opportunities that are available to girls highlighting several young entrepreneurs.

After dinner, the girls could participate in two of the break out sessions that they previously had chosen.  These break out sessions consisted of hip hop dance, work out session, nutritional cooking, self portrait art, praise poems, and STEM.

Overall, the girls had a fabulous evening and I am still asked regularly about when we will have the next All Girl Event.  Below is a link to the movie I created:  Self Esteem Dove Event.