Meet the Rivetts

With schools closed due to COVID-19, one thing is clear: families need us now, more than ever. Between the virus, the racial justice reckoning, and the challenges of remote learning, youth and families are feeling the strain.

Boys & Girls Clubs of King County is a bright spot for many families, and Clubs are open to serve families with full-day programming for kids and teens. On an average day, our 24 Clubs support 800 youth from 240 different schools!

Parents Rose and Matt, and first-grader Mimi, are one family that the Club has assisted with remote learning. Rose is a nurse and Matt is an engineer at Boeing – both are essential workers. With no other child care options, they turned to the Club for support.

Rose credits the Club with saving their family’s sanity! Without the Club, either she or Matt would not have been able to remain employed full-time.

The Club’s familiar routine and structure during this crisis have been invaluable to Mimi’s mental health and development. Full-day and half-day programming at the Club means that kids and teens can focus on remote learning, have supervised recreation time, and nurture their social connections during the pandemic.

Rose is also glad that Mimi isn’t isolated from her peers. At the Club, she made new friends and received support from our trained youth development staff. When Mimi has weekly meetings with her first-grade teacher, she always talks about everything she is learning and experiencing at the Club.

Many Club families have stories just like Rose, Matt, and Mimi and are faced with hard choices about their jobs and their families. The Clubs are uniquely positioned to develop solutions for each family’s needs.

“Mimi learned more at Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, both academically and socially, than we could have offered from home…. For a child to know that there are other adults outside her family who love and respect her, especially as her world is changing, is an invaluable gift. We cannot thank you enough for providing this program to our family and other families in challenging situations.

-Rose Rivett

Our Clubs will continue offering full-day programming as long as schools conduct remote learning. Scholarships are available. 

Give now so that youth and families can continue to have a safe, inclusive, and fun place to go while schools are closed!

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