Wal-Mart Foundation Grant Helps Provide Meals at the Boys & Girls Club

It is estimated that more than 12 million children, who qualify to receive a free or reduced-price lunch during the school year, could be deprived of this vital meal during the summer months.

To help combat that trend, the Wal-Mart Foundation provided the Boys & Girls Club of America with a large grant to provide these children with a complete wholesome meal.  

Locally, the Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh also received help from this grant, in the amount of $6,000 for its summer food program. 

The grant will help ensure that Oshkosh Club members have access to nutritious meals and snacks all summer long. For some youth at the Club, this will be their only meal of the day!

“With the economic downturn, we’ve seen a decline in resources but a record number of requests from families in need of Boys & Girls Club support,” said Patti Garvey, the Club’s child care director. “This Wal-Mart Foundation grant is greatly appreciated and comes at a time when so many families are struggling to provide their children with healthy meals this summer.”

In the summer months, the Boys & Girls Club serves breakfast, lunch and/or snack to over 250 members daily through its summer food program.

The collaboration between the Wal-Mart Foundation and the Boys & Girls Club is an example of how combining efforts truly can make a difference in the average family’s life. 

Wal-Mart Foundation President Margaret McKenna has this to say about their generous grant, “We continue to see the impact the economy is having on our neighbors. They are stretching their budgets and looking to us for help in our stores and through our giving  From supporting summer feeding programs to donating food, we’re committed to doing all we can to help end hunger for our nation’s children, parents, homeless and all who have found themselves in need.”

The Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh in one of 350 Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide who received assistance in the form of hunger relief from the Boys & Girls Club of America and the Wal-Mart Foundation.

The Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh, as well as the Boys & Girls Club of America, relies heavily on collaborations from organizations in the community, as well as larger corporate, non-profit and governmental agencies nationwide in order to keep its doors open!

As always, the Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh is a United Way Agency.