Boys & Girls Club of Vista

Positive youth development through after-school and summer programs, free to children of military personnel. Emphasizing responsibility, confidence and success in school to build caring citizens in our community. Ages 6-18.

How do you help people in my community?

Consider the following statistics in the City of Vista

• There are over 25,000 youth between the ages of 5 and 18 in the City of Vista.
• In the Townsite area alone, there is a 50% high school dropout rate.
• The average schooling does not exceed 9^th grade for adults living in the census tract around our Club.
• 24% of all of Vista?s population are young women 5- 18 years old.
• 33% of all rapes in the city of Vista were imposed on girls under age 18 years of age. 53% of those girls were White and 27% Hispanic; our two most served populations here at the Club.
• San Diego County?s Violent Crime Rate is 5.7% per 1000 & ranks 5^th among the top 30.
• 12% of all assaults are on females ages 18 and under
• Vista is #1 in trafficking sex slaves (NY Times, Jan. 2004).

Why do you need my support?

One day in the life of a child can make a huge impact on her future. One caring adult can create an unbreakable bond with a vulnerable child that will last throughout his lifetime. One Boys & Girls Club can offer hope to an entire neighborhood. One gift from you, no matter how small, can open the door to a brighter tomorrow for more of our children. Gifts to support the ongoing operations of our Club ensures that we keep trained, professional and caring staff at an acceptable ratio of adults to youth, that we keep our facilities safe and clean for all our members, and that we continually strive to reach more youth in the community by creating partnerships with other agencies and expanding our facility reach.

How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?

The Boys & Girls Club of Vista has been in successful operation since 1963 and currently serves over 1000 children on an annual basis. We deliver quality programs with your generous contributions and an exceptional experience for the at-risk youth in our area. Your dollars support the boys & girls in our community who do not have a safe place to go Afterschool while their parents are at work. Your dollars stay in our Club. Your dollars help shape thousands of futures.

Your dollars are audited annually by a professional CPA firm to ensure the fiscal responsibility and accountability by our board of directors. These same people have developed a strategic plan to carry us to the future with growth, promise and the security of our Club for years to come. We keep our overhead low (just 17 cents of every dollar goes to administrative and fundraising) so that our kids can benefit from the proven, successful programs of the Boys & Girls Club.

Can I Volunteer? How?

Each child who walks through our doors has one unique future. One may come from a loving, single-parent family. One may speak little English. One may not have a home. At the Boys & Girls Club of Vista, it is our job to give each child a real sense of hope and opportunity. We work to bring out what?s inside a child and we carry out our mission with care. We take it one child at a time. You can help contribute to these values in the following ways:

• Be a homework helper during our Project Learn program by providing tutoring during our Power Hour homework sessions each day.
• Come out and play a game of pool with a youth, simply make friends with them.
• Be a library monitor to allow us to keep the library open to the youth during the day
• Bring a team of volunteers and do touch up painting throughout various spots in the Club
• Teach a session in arts & crafts. Bring us a project, or we will find one for you to show the youth.
• There are several other ways, too. Log on to www.bgcvista.com, click on ?how you can help? and fill out and fax the volunteer form. Someone will call you within a week to see how you may want to help.