To date, nearly 4 million kids and teens, including those in underserved communities, have found solace in Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s 4,300 clubs around the US.
Now, Boys & Girls Clubs of America will get an extra boost of support to help even more young people. In celebration of Katy Perry’s upcoming tour, she'll be encouraging global citizens to take action to support Boys & Girls Clubs. For every ticket sold, $1 will also be donated to Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
And Perry is rewarding those who show and share their activism. Fans can earn free tickets by joining Global Citizen and taking action to support Boys & Girls Clubs.
Plus, she’s donating tickets to Club members and volunteers.
Boys & Girls Clubs are safe, fun places for kids and teens (age 6-18) to go during out-of-school time, to connect with caring mentors, and get access to life-changing opportunities. They provide a range of after school activities such as tutoring, art, and sports, or even just time to play and be a kid.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America fills a gap for 11.3 million children who have nowhere to go after the school bell rings each day. And when that number skyrockets 43 million children during summer, Boys & Girls Clubs of America is there to help kids grow, learn, and stay healthy all year.
Boys & Girls Clubs hall of famers include stars like Kerry Washington, who sharpened her dance skills at the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club in New York, and athletes like Shaquille O’Neal. These stars are part of an estimated 16 million Club alumni.
“Boys and Girls Clubs are instrumental in creating great citizens,” Kerry Washington said in 2011.
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Boys & Girls Clubs of America had its beginnings in 1860 with sisters Alice and Mary Goodwin and Elizabeth Hamersley, in Hartford, Connecticut. They founded the first Club give boys who were roaming the streets a place to safely gather and a positive alternative to troubling circumstances.
In 1990, the organization, then known as Boys Clubs of America, made a significant change. They added “Girls” into the organization’s name to reflect the girls who were already an integral part of the after-school programs offered at the time.
For over a hundred years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America has been acutely aware of children’s needs and worked to create a holistic environment for all children to access the tools they need to become strong global citizens.
“I come from a single parent home with six children, I’m one of six, so Boys & Girls Clubs of America was a place that my mother could rely to have all of us go, be safe, get tutoring, and have all these extracurricular activities,” ballet prodigy Misty Copeland said of her experience at Boys & Girls Club in Kansas City, Missouri.
Programs at Boys & Girls Clubs are tailored for each community’s needs. Boys & Girls Clubs of America is also the largest provider for youth development programs for Native Americans. They have over 170 clubs on Native American lands, and nearly 300 in public housing areas across the US.
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And the results of their programs are astounding — 97% of Boys & Girls Clubs' kids and teens expect to graduate from high school and 88% expect to complete some kind of post-secondary education, according their impact report.
These numbers are hope that the world can achieve education for all.
Today, Boys & Girls Clubs of America is helping generations of the future achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by providing thousands of environments for kids and teen that foster education, health and wellbeing, and ultimately create responsible global citizens.
However, with proposed budget cuts to after-school programs, places like Boys and Girls Club of America are in need of support from global citizens.
That’s why now, more than ever, is the time to support nonpartisan organizations who seek to enrich and strengthen communities.
Join Katy Perry in supporting Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Learn more here.