Image by Annalise Batista from Pixabay

Club made many necessary adjustments to ensure safety
and adherence to Covid-19 guidelines 

The Boys & Girls Clubs Central Illinois’ (BGCCIL) facilities have been closed since mid-March, but the Central Location, 300 S. 15th Street, will reopen for current Club members on June 29 in the form of Summer Camp. 

“We are very excited to have the kids back in the Club,” said BGCCIL CEO and Executive Director, Tiffany Mathis. “We have been in continual contact with our members during the closure, but nothing can compare to having the kids back in the facility.” 

For the last three months the Club staff has been working to provide ongoing services to its over 900 members throughout the nine Central Illinois Club locations. “We know that our members count on the Club for academic, emotional and nutritional support, so we made sure we adapted to make our services available during the Covid-19 closure,” said Mathis. 

BGCCIL has been distributing lunches, diary boxes, produce, meats and frozen meals three times a week. Additionally, they held a Summer Kick-off event asking the community to assist with filling 1,000 backpacks with weekend snacks, and the result was incredible. “The outpouring of support has been unbelievable,” said Mathis. “We are very fortunate to be a part of such a generous community.” 

In addition to food sustainability, the Club has also been offering virtual programming through V-Club, distributed activity bags and held raffles for prizes. 

Much time and effort has gone into prepping the Club for the kids’ return. This includes the installation of Plexiglas barriers in the Club entry and computer rooms, reconfiguring the space to accommodate social distancing, cleaning and sanitizing, as well as making sure there are enough disposable masks, shoe covers and hand sanitizer on hand to meet safety requirements. 

“We have adapted to the new guidelines and are confident that we will provide a safe environment for our members,” Emily Bergschneider BGCCIL Director of Operations. “This includes mandatory temperature checks and restrictions on contact and the number of attendees we can accommodate.” 

In the past BGCCIL Summer Camp has had close to 120 members enrolled annually. This year the Club will have to restrict the number of attendees to 30 due to the spatial requirements of social distancing. 

The mission of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens. We serve more than 900 youth at our Central Unit and eight local elementary and middle schools each year, providing character building activities and academic programs designed to deliver measurable outcomes. For additional information visit http://bgccil.org