Clubs’ Virtual Toy Drive seeks to secure 5,000 gifts for deserving club members
Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings joined Boys and Girls Club Members this week for the unveiling of The Virtual Toy Drive that he is participating in along with the club. (Photo by Robert A. Bell)
This holiday season, members of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (BGCGM) will have a head start on fun! On Monday, Nov. 1, Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings visited the Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club to announce his partnership with BGCGM and kicked off its Wrap Party Virtual Toy Drive – a special campaign to spread holiday cheer among deserving Club kids. The Mary Ryan Club is located at 3000 N. Sherman Blvd. inside Sherman Park.
“I’m excited to kick off my work with the Boys and Girls Club by spreading a little holiday cheer,” said Jennings. “I hope everyone in the Milwaukee community remembers the kids and participates in our Toy Drive.”
The event was Jennings’ first project as the Boys & Girls Clubs’ newest partner. Through the Clubs’ Wrap Party Virtual Toy Drive, its participants will be entered into a drawing to win a suite at the Bradley Center for a Milwaukee Bucks basketball game and meet Jennings. Over the course of the next year, Jennings will collaborate with the Boys & Girls Clubs on other projects to raise awareness of its positive impact on local youth.
For nearly 20 years, Wrap Party has brightened the holidays for Club members ages fi ve to 18. More than 40,000 toys and gifts have been wrapped and distributed at the Clubs’ holiday parties to its most in need members. This year, through its website, www.boysgirlsclubs.org, the Boys & Girls Clubs’ Virtual Toy Drive aims to purchase 5,000 gifts with help from individuals and the business community. The gifts will be wrapped by volunteers during Wrap Party on Saturday, Dec. 11 at Bayshore Town Center.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee is the oldest and largest youth-serving agency in Milwaukee. It offers after-school and summer programming for children ages 5-18, focusing on those who have major life obstacles, most often poverty. The Clubs operates 40 sites, which include six primary locations, 30 school sites, Camp Whitcomb/ Mason in Hartland and an extension site at the Ethan Allen School for Boys in Wales. Membership to the Clubs is only $5 per year, per child, but no one is ever turned away based on inability to pay. For more info rmation, visit the Clubs’ website at www.boysgirlsclubs.org.