News
July 16, 2020Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area Delivers 200,000 Free Meals and Expands Service for Summer
On Monday, July 13th, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area (BGCCA) celebrated the delivery of over 200,000 free meals since the pandemic began. The mobile delivery service, which began on March 18th, started with serving 4,800 meals weekly and quickly grew to serve over 13,000 meals weekly at 12 locations in Albany and Troy, all within a month of starting the service.
“With our commercial kitchen typically serving 5,500 free meals each week during the school year and summer, we knew we had the ability to step up, but didn’t know how to fund or staff the initiative” said BGCCA CEO, Justin Reuter. “Through the hard work and dedication of our staff, volunteers and board, and financial support of our community, we have been able to triple the output of our regular meal production and continue to expand our service during the summer to meet additional community demand.”
With the school year ending, the mobile delivery service will now transition into providing summer meals for youth and families across the Capital Region. To meet this demand, BGCCA will be expanding its service by providing over 18,000 breakfasts and lunches to 25 locations in Albany and Rensselaer County weekly. A list of delivery sites can be found below and community members are encouraged to physically visit those sites or email meals@bgccapitalarea.org if they would like to participate in the meals program.
“Cooking, preparing and delivering these meals is a team effort” said BGCCA Kitchen Manager, Chris Sky. “We’ve had over 100 volunteers all completely dedicated to making sure that no child or family goes hungry. I continue to be humbled by their hard work and passion, and am grateful I can contribute to our community in such a meaningful way”
While BGCCA provides the Summer Meal Service Program through its limited operating budget and the generosity of donors, additional support is needed to ensure both youth and families continue having access to healthy food this summer. As a result, BGCCA is asking the community for support in the following ways:
This Shirt Feeds Kids
To spread awareness about BGCCA’s food program, a limited apparel line is now available for sale. “This Shirt Feeds Kids” and sweatshirt are available for pre-order at www.bgccapitalarea.org/donate. Shirts are $25, and sweatshirts are $40. Each item provides 4 and 6 meals, respectively. All proceeds will be reinvested into feeding Capital Region youth and families.
Gofundme
If community members would like to support the meals program through an online donation, they can access BGCCA’s Gofundme at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-feed-our-youth?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link-tip&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet.
In addition to delivering meals, BGCCA continues to provide additional resources to families which have included:
• STEM kits with meal delivery through partnership with RPI
• Census information with meal delivery through partnership with Albany Housing Authority
• Additional food items with meal delivery through partnership with the Capital Region Food Bank
• Free Mother’s Day events for Capital Region mother’s/families through a partnership with Global Partners
Summer Camps
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area have opened summer camps for youth ages 5-12 at the following Clubhouse locations:
• Albany Clubhouse – 21 Delaware Avenue Albany, NY 12210
• Troy Clubhouse – 1700 7th Avenue Troy, NY 12180
All camps operate from 8:30am to 5:30pm and are currently accepting campers. For more information on how to enroll, please visit bgccapitalarea.org/albany and bgccapitalarea.org/troy or call (518) 462-5528.
