Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Boys & Girls Club of Manhattan on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 241
Brady Armstrong, Chief Development Officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Manhattan, discusses how federal funding challenges have impacted their services and the innovative ways they're responding to ensure no child is turned away.
• Over 600 kids walk through their doors daily across 13 locations
• Recent funding freeze forced them to cut enrollment by half, creating waitlists and impacting parents' ability to work
• Community response has been strong, with parents advocating to representatives
• Their "Manhattan Needs Club Kids" campaign highlights how club kids become valuable community assets
• Early Learning Center serves children as young as six weeks, with a capacity for 120 kids
• "Up Next" program placed 14 high school students in internships throughout Manhattan
• Mini Golf Classic fundraiser scheduled for September 28th at Wildcat Fitness and Fun
• Annual Casino Night fundraiser set for April 10th at the Alumni Center
• Youth of the Year program showcases success stories, including past winners now graduating from Yale
• Volunteer opportunities available for those wanting to support beyond financial contributions
We invite you to see what we do firsthand. Reach out to schedule a tour of our Early Learning Center, elementary sites, or teen center to witness the impact your support can make.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. We are back at segment number three of the GMCF Community Hour here on this eighth day of September and in this break we are going to be speaking with Brady Armstrong. He is the Chief Development Officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Manhattan and a frequent flyer here on the show. Welcome back, sir. Thank you for having me. How's it going? Great?
Speaker 2:Good to see you.
Speaker 1:I know you've got a lot of things going on and there's been a lot of things in the news about you know, and every nonprofit is dealing with this. Every nonprofit is dealing with this. Every nonprofit is dealing with cutbacks of funds, grants. You know challenges that pose that and that's one of the things that we want to kind of visit about today Not just about you know the challenges, but what you are doing to help compensate for that. So let's talk a bit about how you know some of these cuts on a federal level and maybe a state level have impacted the Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we saw the biggest impact this summer as we were getting ready to come back for fall. One of our biggest funding sources was Frozen. Actually, the same day we opened our fall enrollments we had to very quickly cut that about in half, which created some pretty long wait lists, and we heard from a lot of parents about how they were being affected by not having access to their before and after school care, so the outpouring of support from them was great. I know we had a lot of people call their representatives and we were fortunate enough that that funding has been released. So we're very close to having those wait lists cleared and having folks back at the club, which we're really excited about, do you?
Speaker 1:have a dollar figure you can share about how big a hit.
Speaker 2:That was so. The grant in total for the year is about a million dollars. What kind of chunk of your budget is that? It's a good chunk. It's about that. One grant by itself is probably somewhere 15 to 20 percent probably. It services nine of our 13 locations, so it's definitely a pillar of our programming.
Speaker 1:What kind of response. I know you've been talking about this situation, especially on social media. I see a lot of that and you've had some things that you have done, so can you share a little bit about how folks in the area have been stepping up?
Speaker 2:to help you through this. Yeah, folks have been reaching out and definitely they contacted their representatives and advocated for after school. I think the biggest thing we saw is just how much affordable after school care matters to the local economy. I can't tell you, we probably got 100 responses in the first day when we had to announce those wait lists and almost every single one was about how the parents would either have to quit their job or significantly reduce their hours just because you know how many jobs can you leave at 3.30 to go and make sure your kid gets home safe? So I think that was the biggest thing we heard is how vital having that safe space for kids to stay after school and before school. A lot of folks got to get to work early.
Speaker 1:Well, and as you know, you know, boys and Girls Club was, oh my goodness, so helpful for me after my daughter and I lost her mom. She was 10. And you know, those after school programs were just gosh. That was a wonderful thing for us and I know that there are a lot of families not necessarily of the same cause, but dealing with the same situation that it's just tough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's over 600 kids who walk through our door every day, and so each one of them has a reason to be there whether it's something like you and your daughter were going through whether it's just both parents are pursuing their careers. We're going through whether it's just both parents are pursuing their careers.
Speaker 1:We find that we serve a real purpose to both the parents and the kids who are in our program. Well, that's, you know it's cool that a lot of people are stepping up and I know that you've. You know it may not be enough, but hey, it's a good start and you know it's probably provided you opportunities, or at least thoughts on what you could do to create more opportunities for people to help.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're running congruently with this. We were already running our Manhattan Needs Club Kids campaign, which is where we're asking people to step up and support great futures in Manhattan. We're really trying to talk about beyond just the service we provide. We're trying to show people how much of an asset the club kids are to the community. So we're telling the stories of our youth of the year from last year who's doing great work. She's at Manhattan High School. Really, we see that research shows that the club kids are the adults we need tomorrow in our community. So we're really trying to advocate and talk about the impact for the community.
Speaker 1:So we've got a lot of people that listen to this show, I know, and they love the fact that we get a chance to visit about some of the challenges and some of the great things that are happening. And it's not all gloom and doom, no, no, not at all. I mean, you're doing wonderful work. We all know that and you know this is consistent with all the nonprofits, but there's all kinds of different ways that people can help organizations like the Boys and Girls Club. So what would you?
Speaker 2:suggest? Yeah, I think the biggest, the number one thing I would suggest if you've never interacted with the club is we'd love to have you out to the club and show you what we do every day. You can reach out to me or our CEO, hannah, and we can take you to a tour of our early learning center, where we serve kids as young as six weeks old, one of our 11 elementary sites where we're serving K-5, or you can come downtown to the teen center where we're serving our middle and high schoolers and really see all that it is that we do at the club.
Speaker 1:It's not on our talking points list, but the Early Learning Center has been up. What a year and a half, two years now, yeah a little over a year. Yeah, and it's over just off Highway 24, off just south of Green Valley Road or on the other side.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just off 24, same corner as Casey's and Dara's out there. Yeah, it's south of Casey's.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, okay, okay. So this, I think, was a little bit out of the box thinking for you guys and you saw a need and due to a generous community, you were able to help a lot with a lot of child care needs and it's kind of a different program for all the other things that you do within the schools at the club.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a. I would say it's an innovative approach. There's a few clubs around the country doing it, but it's far from the norm. But we saw a need for not only more child care spots but affordable ones in our community, so it's been great to be serving them this last year. We run a great curriculum out there and get folks ready for school and then we are excited that we're able to serve them all the way through graduation and into their careers.
Speaker 1:Do you have hopes or goals of doing another one?
Speaker 2:Maybe down the road. Right now, I think we're really focused on building that one up and getting it all the way to capacity.
Speaker 1:We've got some other challenges that have come up here lately that probably take a little bit more of a urgent need.
Speaker 2:Yeah especially with our elementary programs. But we've got great capacity out there. We can serve up to 120 kids. So I know we've got some spots still available now.
Speaker 1:So we're uh excited about building that center out so you've got a fun event coming up here later this month. Yeah, and uh, you know, mini golf is something I just love, love, love to do, and it's just right down my alley, you know. So tell us about this.
Speaker 2:You call it, uh, the mini golf classic yeah, so we're trying a new event this year. We're trying to take some of the? Um the things you would see at a normal golf tournament fundraiser and make them accessible and family friendly. So we'll be out at wildcat fitness and fun um doing a mini golf tournament out there. Um we'll have some food and beverages. We'd love to see folks come out with the family and support the club okay, is this a tournament or just for fun?
Speaker 2:We're doing it just for fun this year, but if folks want to get competitive, I'm sure we can figure something out.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'll be competitive when is this.
Speaker 2:That'll be September 28th, from three to five Okay.
Speaker 1:Wildcat Creek, yep. Good place to go yeah.
Speaker 2:It's a great fun place.
Speaker 1:Beautiful place to go. It's a fun little course.
Speaker 2:Love going out there. Yeah, it's a great fun place, beautiful place to go. It's a fun little course, love going out there. Yeah, it's a good spot, um, and we'll have access to the driving range as well, so I think we might do a little competition on that before we get the mini golf started. Yeah, some longest drive type stuff, something closest to the bus yeah, I think you gotta prize if you ding the bus that would be fun yeah I think that'll yeah, so it'll be.
Speaker 1:Can you have something like the dunking tank out there, where somebody you know you put a dunk tank and if you have gotten some requests for a dunk tank.
Speaker 2:We might, if we can find a connection for that, we might see if we can figure that out.
Speaker 1:This is what happens when I get free reign over this show, so how can people sign up to participate?
Speaker 2:yeah, we'd love for folks to purchase some tickets and come see us um. You can find the info on our website at bgclubmanhattancom or you can interact with our Facebook event at Boys and Girls Club of Manhattan on Facebook and Instagram. Good.
Speaker 1:I want to talk a little bit and this goes back to the previous portion of our segment here, talking about some of the financial impacts of some of the grants that have ended. Has that changed your staff situation?
Speaker 2:Fortunately for us it hasn't yet. We've been able to sustain that. I think it did draw some attention to the need for more local support to make sure we can be here long-term, but we've been fortunate enough right now that we've been able to retain everybody.
Speaker 1:Good, good, but you still have some 600 kids that go through the program and I bet you have the capacity to do more. Do you need more staff if you bring in more?
Speaker 2:We can always. We always try to make sure no kid is turned away. So we have some very short wait lists at a few of our sites right now, but we anticipate rolling people off of those very soon.
Speaker 1:What are ways? People can just volunteer their time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, volunteering the best ways to do that. So our events are a great way to get involved. We do casino night in the spring, which I know you're very familiar with, mini golf, and then folks who want to make a real-time commitment. We, of course, are always looking for great board members.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the Casino Night is April 10th. April 10th We'll be at the Alumni Center again. All right, and I have been a part of every one of those. I know we couldn't Probably before you were born that might have been, you know, the first ones we did at Colony Square and you know it was uh, it grew and grew and it's just become one of those uh, iconic events.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been a lot of fun getting involved with the last few years. We're looking forward to it again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you have all the particulars, uh, worked out yet, other than the date and the location?
Speaker 2:Um, we've got the venue. Um, I'm still kicking around some theme ideas.
Speaker 1:Eight months away, I know.
Speaker 2:It always sneaks up on us right after we started the new year. We've had some great themes the last few years, so I'm trying to pick a good one and announce it soon, but we're still working through that.
Speaker 1:All right, put that down on the calendar, folks, because that's always a good time and tickets as it gets closer can be a little bit difficult to get. So put it on the calendar now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we anticipate it filling up and we'll also probably do some early bird specials. So right after the new year, definitely keep an eye out for our announcement and get your tickets as soon as you can. Okay.
Speaker 1:Man, we've talked about a lot of things. I still got five minutes of time to talk about. What do you want to say?
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, I think, to get away from maybe some of the doom and gloom, I think one of the we are always trying new things at the Boys and Girls Club. I was really excited. This summer we did a new program called Up Next. So Boys and Girls Club has in the last few years added workforce and life readiness to one of our priority outcomes. So we were really excited to be able to place I believe it was 14 kids at internships around the local community where they were able to get their first work experience in high school. So they we had one student at interning at the breadbasket, we had one working at Mathis Physical Therapy. So to see those kids, just the great job they did this summer and the impact they had, and we were very fortunate to have those community partners as well, and you talked about your youth of the year and this is one of the highlights.
Speaker 1:You know we talk about Casino Night as a fundraiser, but it's also an opportunity for those that are there to hear from a youngster who has done some wonderful things, who has grown in so many different areas because of not just because, but Boys and Girls Club has been highly impactful in their lives. I love those stories, yeah they're great.
Speaker 2:Our current Youth of the Year, Hannah. She's got a great story. She immigrated to the US, didn't speak English when she got here and really credits the club with helping her get out of her shell and make friends, and she's doing a great job over at Manhattan High School now We'll hopefully see her at this year's Youth of the Year competition as well, as well as probably some newcomers, so that'll be beginning of the year. In January you can come out and see our Youth of the Year event or wait to hear from the winner at Casino Night in April.
Speaker 1:I know our Youth of the Year has gone on. You know we've had some of the past, have gone on and become the state winner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the state winner Shalise. She did great. She's finishing up at Yale. I believe this year she'll graduate from Yale and I think she's returning to the Manhattan community. But she's a real example. She is a real example. Yeah, she's a special young woman.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, and, and her, her testimony that she gave is just one of my favorite moments that, uh, that you've had there at those events yeah, yeah, it's always.
Speaker 2:Um, I think the thing that speaks out is that it's always. They remember the relationships. I know she still checks in with Miss Shannon and Miss Alyssa frequently, so it's the relationships they build that are really lifelong.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Okay. So we have a little mini golf event, the mini golf classic you call it the mini golf classic Benefiting the Boys and girls club. Yep, how much does it cost to participate? Um?
Speaker 2:we've got general admission for 35, and then you can get a vip ticket for 75 okay, all right, september 28th, 3 to 5 pm at wildcat Yep, put that down.
Speaker 1:Put April 10 on your calendar. It's on mine.
Speaker 2:I hope so yeah it is.
Speaker 1:That's the one constant, it seems like, between me and Kathy Stevens, I think. Yep, but it's an honor to be a part of that and I just enjoyed all of those things. So, brady, thanks for joining us, dude. Yeah, thank you so much for having me Give our best to everybody in Hanna and everybody back at the mainstay, and we'll get you in again, probably next spring, right?
Speaker 2:Yep, I'll come see you right before casino night Sounds good, brady Armstrong.
Speaker 1:Chief Development Officer at the Boys and Girls Club of Manhattan. You can find out more about them at bgclubmanhattancom. Thank you, thank you. All right, when we come back, we're going to bring you up to date on some things that are happening in the community. No-transcript.