General Wood Club: Chicago Fire Star visits General Wood Club
General Wood: The Craft & Hobby Association Craft Fair
General Wood Club: Community Service Project
General Wood: Stone Prairie Tour
General Wood Club: Teen Conference
General Wood Club: Sleepover, Digitas
General Wood Club: SEARS’ American Dream Campaign
General Wood Club: Chicago Fire Star visits General Wood Club
On Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Chicago Fire player Dasan Robinson
visited the Gen. Wood Club. Dasan spoke to Club members about
his experiences and how they can work hard and follow their dreams.
During his visit Dasan did some soccer demonstrations with Club members, before taking pictures and signing lots of autographs.
Dasan plans to stay involved with the Boys and Girls Club and is working with Club staff to create an incentive program within the Club's Power Hour.
General Wood: The Craft & Hobby Association Craft Fair
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA), and the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago, partnered to execute a three-hour Kids Craft Fair for 150 children of the General Robert E. Wood Boys & Girls Club and Little Village Clubs on July 16, 2008 as a way to say “thank you” to the greater Chicago area for hosting the CHA Summer Show for over two decades. In honor of the event an official proclamation designating July 16 as official "Kids Craft Day in Chicago” was issued by the Honorable Mayor Daley, mayor of Chicago.
In his proclamation Mayor Daly sited sharing a passion for crafts with kids, inspiring creativity, fostering manual dexterity, promoting social skills, enforcing spatial and conceptual faculties and helping build good will within the community as factors behind the proclamation. He further encouraged “all Chicagoans to recognize the importance of family and to spend quality time with their loved ones” on this day.
“We are so grateful to CHA members who made the Kids Craft
Day possible,” explained Angela Benke, BGCC Program Director.
“The projects they donated are sure to be a hit with our
kids.”
(Other CHA’s participating companies including Terri O,
Duncan Enterprises, Jo-Ann Stores, Inc., FloraCraft, Arte Latin-Oh!,
Creative Hands, Scrapbook Retailer Magazine, Memory Makers Magazine,
EK Success, Ellison, Pack-o-Fun Magazine, Leisure Arts, Scrapbook
Adhesives, and research partner Phoenix Multicultural. An additional
50 companies donated craft product to insure that the BGCC had
a complete year’s worth of crafting supplies and projects.
About The Craft & Hobby Association:
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) is a not-for-profit organization
consisting of about 5,000 member companies engaged in the manufacture,
distribution and retail sales of products in the $31 billion craft
and hobby industry. The Association offers a broad range of member
services, including market research, education and consumer branding
initiatives, as well as operates two annual trade show events,
the CHA Winter Show and CHA Summer Show that attract industry
professionals from all over the world. For more crafting ideas
go to www.craftplace.org.
General Wood Club: Community Service Project
The General Wood Keystone and Torch Clubs made 200 hygiene care packages for youth in Mercy Home and Uhlich Children's Advantage residential programs on April 4, 2008. The event was sponsored by Taco Bell with donated products from Unilever. Over 20 youth participated in the service event where representative from the two agencies discussed their services and history of some of their clients. Club members created an assembly line to put together the care packages which consisted of shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, shower gel, deodorant, etc. The event allowed the participants to understand difficult situations that some kids face and that every little bit helps kids adjust in their new environment.
General Wood: Stone Prairie Tour
On March 15th, 22 youth from the General Wood Boys & Girls Club visited Theodore Stone Prairie in Hodgkins, IL. Through a sponsorship with the Sierra Club, members assisted park rangers in cutting and burning buckthorn - an invasive tree that kills plant life around it. In addition to helping the environment, the group conducted nature observations through a hike and worked on teambuilding activities. Club members were even able to roast their own hot dogs and s’mores over the fire!
General Wood Club: Teen Conference
On February 23rd, over 50 teens attended a day long conference
at the General Wood Club. Club members participated in college
prep activities as well as money matters programming (financial
literacy). Workshop presenters consisted of volunteers from Charles
Schwab (supporters of the Money Matters program), post secondary
education experts, financial aid counselors from local colleges
and staff. Participants had a chance to win scholarship money
and laptops by participating in the conference and future college
prep activities. The event was capped off with a bowling outing.
All Girls Sleepover
To kick start some of the new girls programming at General Wood, we had an all girls sleepover in early September. The event included teambuilding, icebreakers, sports, games, dancing, a pajama fashion show, swimming and some activities to help the girls get to know themselves better. The teen girls assisted in planning and running activities for the younger girls. Approximately 50 girls attended and stayed up most of the night!
Digitas Volunteer Day
Employees from Digitas spent all day on Columbus Day at the club
and created a fun learning experience for the kids. The 65 volunteers
spent a tremendous amount of time planning each session: photography,
culture/travel, helping the environment, sports and nutrition,
silly Olympics, arts and crafts and a session for the teens about
careers in advertising/media. It was a great start to the new
partnership between Digitas and the Club. They will continue to
assist us with various projects throughout the year.
General Wood Club: SEARS’ American Dream Campaign
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SEARS’ American Dream Campaign at the General Robert E. Wood Club provides in-house services to the families in the community, such as: English as a Second Language (beginner to intermediate level), Fitness & Nutrition Classes, and Beginners to Intermediate Computer Classes. In addition, there are informational workshops on Domestic Violence, Signs of Teen Dating Violence, CPR (Infant, Children, & Adults), Self Defense, Stress Management & Relaxation Techniques, Depression Symptoms/Signs, and Legal Assistance. Parents can take advantage of a variety of highly informative parenting workshops covering topics such as Discipline, Sex Education, the Effects of Drugs and Alcohol, Physical vs. Verbal Punishment, Physical vs. Verbal abuse, Child Success in School, Communication, Conflict Resolution and Home Childcare Services. For a complete list of offerings, please contact the General Wood Club.
