Whitefish Community Foundation has awarded a multi-year grant to Boys & Girls Club of Glacier Country to launch an afterschool program in Evergreen this fall. The $100,000 grant was made possible by donors to Whitefish Community Foundation’s Kids Fund, established in 2019 as an initiative to help address child homelessness in the Flathead Valley.
The goal of the Kids Fund is to support small and large-scale programs in the areas of health, safety and education that mitigate challenges and prevent local youth from becoming homeless. To date, Whitefish Community Foundation has awarded $240,000 in Kids Fund grants to local nonprofit organizations, including Flathead Youth Home, CASA for Kids, Child Bridge and others.
“Nonprofits in our community deliver crucial services to the Flathead Valley’s most vulnerable residents,” Whitefish Community Foundation Executive Director Linda Engh-Grady said. “Whitefish Community Foundation is grateful for the donors who support initiatives like the Kids Fund and make it possible for local nonprofits to address the serious issue of youth homelessness in our valley.”
The Whitefish Community Foundation grant to Boys & Girls Club of Glacier Country will be paid over three years beginning in 2021. Boys & Girls Club will use the funds to provide after-school programing to more than 75 K-8 students from Helena Flats School, East Evergreen Elementary, Evergreen Junior High and the Flathead Crossroads Program. Trained Boys & Girls Club staff members will lead students through various educational projects designed to instill healthy habits, build life skills and cultivate leadership traits. The children who will participate in the program have been identified by teachers and school counselors as having the greatest need for the services provided by Boys & Girls Club.
