Project will bring after school enrichment and education to rural Creston
Must Charities initiates a three year, $284,000 project
– Must Charities’ recent $284,000 investment with the Boys and Girls Club of the Mid Central Coast will help ensure children in rural Creston will have access to an enriched education and mentorship experience at Boys and Girls Club, providing a stable, reliable, and safe place to be after school.
The three-year investment into an onsite Boys and Girls Club at Creston Elementary School will fill a much-needed gap by establishing programming onsite where children attend school daily. The club will provide character and leadership development, education and career development, the arts, health and life skills, and sports, fitness, and recreation programming.
In Creston:
- 32-percent of the students enrolled are minority.
- 50-percent of students fall below reading and math proficiency levels.
- 48-percent of students served are considered economically disadvantaged.
“We saw similar data in Shandon when we first launched an onsite club there,” says Becky Gray, executive director of Must Charities. “When the data repeated itself in Creston, we knew it was time to expand into yet another rural community. The Boys and Girls Club continues to be data-driven in their approach as we are, and sustained partnerships with them are creating more confident children and stronger families and communities.”
At the end of the three-year collaboration:
- 100-percent of the families in need will have access to afterschool services.
- 95-percent graduation rate.
- 90-percent of participants at or above grade level in math and literacy.
- If needs present themselves, establish a full-day, year-round program in perpetuity.
In 2012, Must Charities launched the first of several partnerships with the Boys and Girls Club. At the time one club was servicing 100 kids in Paso Robles. Since then, the club has not only grown to serve kids year-round in three cities in the North County, but also underwent a successful regional merger with Santa Maria Valley Clubs, and are now known as the Boys & Girls Club of the Mid Central Coast.
To find out more about the Must Charities fundraising charitable campaigns, visit mustcharities.org or call (805) 226-5788.
