Throughout the month of May, we will be highlighting the four main areas of impact for the Eli Lilly matching gift opportunity, and in this article, we are talking about Programming at the Gathering Site.
In partnership with the Gathering Church, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Muncie opened the Gathering Site in January 2023 as part of an expansion to meet the needs of more Delaware County youth. In May we will finish our first full school year as an after-school provider for Royerton Elementary, Eaton Elementary, and Delta Middle School.
The Gathering Site is a safe place where students from those schools can learn and grow. We focus on three main areas that encompasses the whole child approach: Academic & Career Success, Healthy Lifestyles, and Character & Leadership.
Academic Success aims to improve high school graduation rates by meeting the needs of each kid and teen. Each day, the Club offers Power Hour, which is a time for members to focus on homework or participate in differentiated educational activities. Additionally, the Club participates in the Indiana Learns program which supports reading and math growth and puts tutors in place to meet the needs of each student. At the Gathering Site, the middle school kids are inspired to dream about their futures by engaging in career exploration activities to expand their knowledge of career opportunities.
Boys & Girls Clubs’ Healthy Lifestyles programs encourage youth to develop healthy habits as well as learn how to make positive choices and take personal responsibility for their actions. Along with the physical wellbeing of the kids, we also focus on their social-emotional wellbeing. The Gathering Stie offers a wide range of activity group clubs that allows the kids to explore and participate in many Healthy Lifestyle enhancing programs. They offer cooking club, tumbling club, and sports club which all focus on the importance of healthy habits. These activity group clubs provide the kids a great opportunity to meet and engage with students from other schools and other grades.
Through the Character & Leadership program, members are encouraged to take personal responsibility for their actions and are given leadership roles. At the Gathering Site the kids have the opportunity to complete volunteer hours where they can learn to help others by reading to the younger kids, passing out meals, and the importance of being responsible by cleaning rooms after programs. One of the Clubs main goals is to connect the kids with caring mentors that can help and encourage them in their development as leaders in their classroom and community.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Muncie is excited to have a matching gift opportunity provided by Eli Lilly Foundation. This match will continue to double every gift until May 31st up to $100,000 – making every donation twice as impactful for the youth of Muncie and Delaware County.