At Fuchs North America, we believe in giving back to our community by supporting meaningful organizations and initiatives. One of those organizations is the Boys & Girls Club of Westminster, Maryland.
The Boys and Girls Club serves the community by driving positive outcomes and enhancing the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence. Their after school program helps children with homework, life skills, character, and leadership development as well as having a place to belong and feel cared for and valued.
Our company first became involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster when our CEO Dan Cooper joined their Capital Campaign committee, which was working towards the goal of building a new home for the club. The Boys and Girls Club had a waiting list of children and didn’t have the capacity at their previous location so they launched a campaign to raise funds to expand.
The new building opened in spring 2018 and is able to accommodate 600 kids per day – a significant increase from their previous building which could only accommodate for roughly 110 kids per day. Now, they’re focused on the addition of a gymnasium, which will help keep teens involved and be a special place to bring their friends under adult supervision in a safe place and not on the street.
According to the Boys & Girls Club of Westminster’s Executive Director Bonnae Meshulam, teens are an important demographic for the Westminster community due to a growing teen substance abuse problem in the county where we are facing an opioid crisis. Teen fatalities due to illicit use of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, increased 175% from 2014 to 2015 in Carroll County, notes Meshulam.
“For this reason, our club continues to increase teen club membership; there are few opportunities for teens after school, weekends and in the summer where they can be in a safe environment, participate in teen-specific programs, and be with caring adult mentors to help them through the numerous situations they are facing. We give hope and opportunity to more kids and we are the only Boys & Girls Club in the entire county,” explains Meshulam.
In addition to Cooper’s role on the Capital Campaign committee, Fuchs has offered support to the club in other ways. As a special thank you gift to our donors, Fuchs produced a special blend of spices for them.
Executive Director Bonnae Meshulam also came to speak with Fuchs’ employees at our quarterly meeting to introduce the Boys and Girls Club and speak about their needs. Our employees expressed interest in volunteering their time and talent at the Boys and Girls Club. We expect to have several employees begin volunteering in 2019.
To learn more about the Boys & Girls Club of Westminster, click here.