B&G Club had a great year

Editor,

This is directed to the Friends of the Boys & Girls Club: The year 2006 has come to a close and the board, staff and volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County extends a humble thank you to you all.

You have made it possible for us to serve the club members at our Ronan and Polson sites for another year. Your thoughtful contributions have come in a variety of forms and we are so very appreciative of each and every one. The added benefit is that by choosing our non-profit organization, you have made an investment which stays right here. It has a lasting, local impact on our kids and this community.

We have served literally hundreds of kids this year in some way or another. They were able to participate in activities after school and during the summer. We have been making every effort to improve our delivery of services and we try to work with other agencies who are involved in giving our youth better tools to make good decisions in this life. The club has shown growth and we will continue to expand the best we can to give kids a safe, wholesome and fun place to go five days a week.

Your help has come from thoughtful individual cash contributions, participation in the Mardi Gras, Phone -A - Thon, Haunted House, One Campaign and most recently the Chili Cook-off and the Cookie Sale.

The confidence and hope we've been blessed with also came from businesses, some of which contribute on a regular basis making our cash flow slightly less complicated. Some of the help was from bake sales or an accumulation of a year's fundraising activities or proceeds from investments or other sources. Added to that, your help came in the form of discounted goods or donated resources or inventory which gives us a chance to maintain our programs more affordably.

Several contributors gave in the name of a cherished friend or loved one whose memory will be a part of our club forever. There were also many hours served by volunteers who gladly donated their time and talents here at the club. Thank you again for providing us a chance to serve the needs of kids.

There are no signs of slowing down. In fact, the need intensifies yearly. After celebrating its 100th year in 2006, Boys & Girls Clubs in the United States grew past 4,000 organizations in number. You can be proud that our local club is part of a success story which has made a huge nationwide difference this last century.

We are asking you to stay with us, to continue your thoughtful support. Who better to stick up for our kids and our community than you? As for the coming year, we're excited. The board is planning exciting activities to help keep the operations of the club intact. We're working on solutions to the building challenges which are upon us and we continue to nurture the talent of our staff in upholding the integrity of our organization and mission statement.

Please stop by the club. When you come to where the action is you can realize the full impact of how our organization affects the community. We would love to show you what we do and introduce you to the very reason we're here — the kids. Every youngster is important and they will always be our priority. Thank you so very much for being here when it really counts and we wish the best for you in 2007.

John Schnase

Executive Director

Boys & Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County