Boys and Girls Club Surrey December 2020
Sponsoring the BGC of Surrey is a priority to us here at Rick’s Heart Foundation. The club provides crucial support for our youth, helping to form the citizens they will become. Receiving updates from the club truly brightens our day.
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If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.
~ Albert Einstein
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Clubs Winter Highlights
Although we are living in extraordinary times, this term at the Surrey Club we have seen our youth adapt, develop, have fun, and show how resilient they truly are. Here are some highlights and successes:
Adapting Outside
The youth at the Surrey Club usually love being outside, running around, playing basketball, manhunt, and any other games they can think of. This year, in adapting to the pandemic they have had even more outside time than usual, which they used to be creative and have fun. One of the season favourites this year was an outdoor replica of a popular online game “Among Us” that the youth came up with themselves! The goal of the game is to identify the imposter before they eliminate all of the other players in the game. The game also has a teamwork element as each player has the chance to call an emergency meeting and put their heads together to discover who it is.
Pokémon Party
It’s been a tough year at the Surrey Club – and in the world – so we thought we’d give the youth an extra special treat this year: a Pokémon Party. If there’s one thing the youth at the club love, it’s Pokémon. They had an absolute blast pinning the tail on the charizard, completing Pokémon scavenger hunt, and destroying a pokeball piñata!
Evening Programs
Although our evening programs have had cancellations due to COVID-19 and lower attendance because of safety precautions, we were able to really connect with the youth who attended. We were able to build stronger relationships with them over the past few months, giving us more insight into their lives and allowing all the staff here to guide and teach them in ways that were meaningful to them. A standout this year was our Halloween celebrations. Due to the continuation of the pandemic, all the youth were able to have their own personal pumpkins at our evening programs this year. They were very excited to create their very own masterpieces and even made them in the images of some iconic characters.
STEAM
The youth at the Surrey Club had an extra interest in STEAM projects this year, with their curiosity growing as they grow into pre-teens and teens. The youth did many special experiments such as lemon lights, volcanoes, egg drops, make your own snow and snow globes, velocity and aerodynamic tests, and more. They learned a lot and had a ton of fun. The egg drop was particularly exciting because all the youth climbed to the top of the playground to test their creations as their peers watched from below. Even though some eggs didn’t make it, the excitement of a safe egg and all their friends’ reactions kept everyone in good spirits.
Success Stories
Poppy has been with the club for a few years, and she’s always been one of our quieter and more reserved members. Last year, the majority of the time you would find her quietly reading by herself or quietly talking to her small group of friends. This year, Poppy was finally old enough to join our youth programs and make really close connections with some of our other members. With the combination of fewer participants due to the pandemic and the friendships that she has been able to make, Poppy has really come out of her shell and has come to really enjoy her time at the club. Although she can still sometimes be found reading or spending some quiet time by herself, Poppy is also regularly found laughing, joking, playing games, running around, and being completely rambunctious with her best friends. She can even be found asking her parents to stay longer on occasion when they come for pick up because she wants to finish a project or have a bit more time with her friends. Whether it’s quietly reading or running around with her friends, we are so happy that Poppy has found a balance that allows her to feel like she can be completely herself at the club!
Lexi has been at the club for as long as she can remember. Though she has had a more difficult life than most in her young years, she always comes to the club willing to be open and make connections with staff and participants alike. This year, Lexi finally became old enough to volunteer with us at the club. She talked about it all year last year, and was so excited to give back to the people who have been there for her for many years. Though it looked a little different this year, we were able to set Lexi up as one of our youth volunteers and have started to see her grow and develop this term. She has taken on the responsibility of being a volunteer with ease and although she needs some guidance like all of our youth volunteers, she has amazing potential and we have seen her start to reach it.
On behalf of all the youth we serve.
