Stay up to Date with Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County’s Holiday Festivities

Before every Thanksgiving dinner growing up, we would pause—no doubt like many of you—before saying grace to recite what we were thankful for.

Age (and I like to think wisdom) have taught me the value this practice. In fact, the privilege of working with children and families in need—who often count as blessings the simplest things many of us take for granted—reminds me daily of its importance.

When counting my top professional blessings, I start with the kindness of our community and the caliber of colleagues in the nonprofit space who give and live to lighten the burden of the less fortunate and ensure their holiday season shines bright.

The City of Stuart and NAACP of Martin County host the 21st annual Miracle on 10th Street from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 17 at Guy Davis Park. Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County is excited to support this event, which will provide gifts to children ages 4 to 12. To contribute, call the NAACP at (772) 215-2411 or (772) 288-5340.

We’re excited to host our Winter Wonderland Day at our Hobe Sound club Dec. 20 in conjunction with children from our partners the Hobe Sound Early Learning Coalition and Banner Lake Club. Attendees will enjoy music, food, gift wrapping, gift giving and time with Santa himself. We’ll make sure every club member receives backpacks full of fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy pantry items, prepared meals, and snacks to ensure they don’t go hungry over holiday break.

To contribute, you can leave toy donations at drop-off locations participating in our Operation Merry and Bright. For more, visit www.bgcmartin.org.

Thankfully, we’re far from the only organization collecting and providing toys and other essentials to local children in need. United Way of Martin County offers Toys for Tots collection sites at area businesses for here www.unitedwaymartin.org.

The Angel Tree by the Salvation Army of Martin, St. Lucie & Okeechobee Counties collects toys and clothes for more than 1,700 children in need. Follow and support their efforts at salvationarmyflorida.org/martincounty.

In addition to the generosity of individual donors and businesses, dedication of fellow nonprofit colleagues, and children and families we get to serve, I’m thankful for the BGCMC team.

We’re blessed to provide a host of resources and programming on academics, healthy lifestyles, good citizenship, workforce development and more. But club life, as we call it, is underscored by a simple goal: Creating an atmosphere of safety, stability, support, and acceptance for the children in our care. My incredible staff makes that a reality daily.

This is a foundational blessing—and one I seldom if ever considered growing up. Looking back, I know it made all the difference. Together, all of us working in the nonprofit arena help provide it to those for whom it’s been most absent.

That’s something we can all say grace over.

Happy Thanksgiving.