Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania

It was a beautiful WEEK in our neighborhood! Thank you to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for hosting the Northeast Regional Leadership Conference in Pittsburgh last week for over 400 Club leaders from both the Northeast and Southeast regions. Sam Gray and his team knows how to throw a party! So proud of my amazing Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania team who brought the same energy and passion for our mission they bring every day for our youth and families to make our guests feel welcomed. Special congratulations to Zoia DiMillo for winning the Northeast Region's Resource Development Professional of the Year Award! The thoughtfulness with our collaboration with Demeshia Seals and her team at Sarah Heinz House made sure that every attendee had a uniquely Pittsburgh experience. It was so inspiring to see our Club Kids and Teens confidentially performing and speaking in front of such a large room. A huge thank you to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pirates Charities (Travis Williams, Jacque Skowvron, Sarah Heffler, Tori Gohn) a for hosting an incredible "Welcome to the Neighborhood" reception at PNC Park. Your generosity continues to make a difference and as always, America's Best Ballpark did not disappoint! Also grateful for the leaders from Fred Rogers Productions (Paul Siefken Mallory Mbalia), Fred Rogers Institute (Emma Swift Lee), and When You Wonder You're Learning (Ryan Rydzewski) for sharing your wisdom with us at a time where kindness is especially needed. It was an honor to have Mayor Gainey open the conference by welcoming the group to our City as well as share his appreciation to the professionals who dedicate their lives to helping children reach their potential. Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed towards making this conference such a success. Looking forward to carrying this positive momentum forward into 2025 and beyond!

Thank you to the amazing team at the Pittsburgh Pirates for hosting the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Northeast Regional Conference reception at PNC Park! It was wonderful to show off the best ballpark in America to the hundreds of Clubs leaders that came to Pittsburgh for the conference. Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania and Sarah Heinz House appreciate your many years of partnership and cannot wait to see what the future holds. Thank you for lending a helping hand to our friends and communities and making great futures all around! Thank you Pirates!! #bgcwpa #greatfutures #thankyou

Thank you to the amazing team at the Pittsburgh Pirates for hosting the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Northeast Regional Conference reception at PNC Park! It was wonderful to show off the best ballpark in America to the hundreds of Clubs leaders that came to Pittsburgh for the conference. Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania and Sarah Heinz House appreciate your many years of partnership and cannot wait to see what the future holds. Thank you for lending a helping hand to our friends and communities and making great futures all around! Thank you Pirates!! #bgcwpa #greatfutures #thankyou

What an fun-filled week we had with BGCA and all the other Boys & Girls Clubs from the northeast region. Yesterday, we closed out our Regional Conference and we were so excited to welcome everyone into our neighborhood! I am sure we all learned so much and made so many new friends! We cannot wait to hopefully see you all in our beautiful neighborhood again soon! #bgcwpa #bgca #greatfutures

Allegheny County Council must pass a budget by December 6th. Right now, our Councilors are debating the budget proposed by County Executive Innamorato. After more than a decade of flat County property tax rates, Allegheny County now faces a structural deficit in its operating budget so large that it could be forced to cut more than $136M from the human services budget. These services are for our most vulnerable residents and the County would have to make significant cuts to services such as: -Out of school time programs for 5,700 youth including hundreds of Club Kids -Emergency shelter for 800 youth and families and 3,400 adults. -Rental assistance to prevent evictions for 6,500 residents. -Home delivered meals for 3,600 seniors. -Senior Centers serving 11,000 clients. -Behavioral health services that insurance or Medicaid doesn’t cover for 9,000 people Urge your County Councilors to support the 2.2 millage tax increase proposed by County Executive Innamorato, which is necessary to avoid catastrophic cuts to County services.

HAPPY MONDAY!! The other day our friends at the Aliquippa Clubhouse had a full day of fun. They had a staff vs kids volleyball game, a positive action group talk, AND a steam project learning about acidity using lime and baking soda. Sometimes we wish days at the clubs could go on forever! Check out our programming at bgcwpa.org and see how you can be involved with BGCWPA! #bgcwpa #greatfutures #Aliquippa

Thank you ALDI USA for taking time out of your day to help us and our friends clean up the clubhouse. We can always use a helping hand (or 2 or 5 or even 15) to keep our safe spaces clean and fun. Thank you again for volunteering and making greater futures every day! #bgcwpa #volunteer #greatfutures

Meet Marquise Wheeler, Manager of Career Development at Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania. Marquise was a Club Kid. Because of the incredible mentors he met at the Club he is now a mentor for youth that were just like him. Because of supporters like you, we can continue to make sure that every kid, no matter what, has access to our programming! On Giving Tuesday this December 3rd, please consider giving to Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania to help us open our doors to even more Club Kids, just like Marquise.

Look at our friend Dr. Melvin Steals on Talk Pittsburgh the other day! He talks about his journey with BGCWPA and how he strives to inspire young minds by creating more opportunities for our friends with more clubhouses. Opening the Aliquippa Clubhouse has made greater futures and support systems for our communities. Thank you Dr. Melvin Steals for supporting BGCWPA and making a difference every day! #bgcwpa #aliquippa #greatfutures https://ow.ly/q81o50U6bvw

Happy World Kindness Day! Remember to treat people the way you want to be treated. Hold the door, bring someone some coffee, or compliment a stranger. Do something that makes a difference in someone's day not just today, but every day! Even the smallest gesture can make the biggest difference. Keep making greater futures, greater days, and greater attitudes! #bgcwpa #bekind #greatfutures