Fletch's Perspective July 2025 - Friends & Neighbors of Martin County

Keith Fletcher

Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County, President & CEO



In about 10 years’ time, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County (BGCMC) has exponentially enhanced the quality of our services, significantly expanded the number of children we serve, and consistently achieved improved outcomes for our members in academics, school attendance, overall behavior, graduation levels and workforce preparation.

This is due overwhelmingly to the generosity of our community, the dedication of our staff and the skill of our grants team in attaining—and maintaining—applicable state and federal funding.


One such funding source is 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC). Federally sourced and passed through the states, 21st CCLC funds are an excellent example of how to target grant assistance to those most in need, ensure local oversight and uphold accountability measures.



Administered with local oversight, 21st CCLC, broadly speaking:

  • Empowers families to choose the afterschool program that’s right for their child, enabling BGCMC to provide nearly 700 children daily (and annually nearly 7,000 more through our outreach) with healthy meals and snacks, certified academic support, enrichment programs, field trips, workforce trainings and more—at no cost to the family.
  • Improves learning by funding math, science and literacy teachings and academic enrichment opportunities—after school and over the summer—

for students at lower-preforming Title 1 schools.

  • Builds the future workforce through programs in conjunction with industry experts that prepare young people for in-demand professions such as HVAC, marine mechanics, drone piloting, construction, robotics, and computer coding—to name just a few.   

Locally, the numbers tell the story. Over 2023-2024, 21st CCLC helped BGCMC:

  • Employ 43 certified teachers
  • Provide 19,000 hours of instruction uniquely tailored to the students
  • Serve 11 Martin County schools
  • Teach more than 1,400 young people, of which 74 percent raised their attendance rates, 91 percent showed improvement in their grades, and 94 percent increased their English Language Arts scores on state assessments
  • Support 135 positions
  • More than 2,200 children all told benefit directly from the fund.

Thank you for assisting us in delivering hope and help to our community’s most vulnerable children and families.