As part of their recently introduced Here & Now mental health initiative, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham & Wakefield is proud to launch free programs and childcare for families facing the challenges of a cancer diagnosis in their household. Recipients will be able to take full advantage of all club offerings, including after-school and enrichment programs, Teen Center memberships, summer camps, access to Hall Memorial Pool and Wakefield Community Boating, and more, free-of-charge for as long as needed.
“We are so grateful that the Boys and Girls Club is offering this resource to our patients and their children,” said Jennifer Yorko, Director of Hematology/Oncology at Winchester Hospital’s Center for Cancer Care. “Coping with a cancer diagnosis while caring for your family and yourself can be challenging. Winchester Hospital has been proud to support the Boys and Girls Club through our community benefits program and appreciate our community partner helping to ease the burden of the families in our area who are facing this hardship.”
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham & Wakefield have been dedicated to providing safe and supportive spaces for the local youth and families they serve for the last fifty years. Since opening their doors, the Clubs have played an integral part of youth development and have helped build great futures by leaving lasting impressions on members’ lives.
“When I was 9 years old I lost my father to brain cancer. As is all too common, our family struggled to cope with the emotional, mental, and financial stress from such a crushing loss,” recalls Bill Kidder, Wakefield resident and current Club board member. “This special free program being offered by the Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham and Wakefield to families dealing with a cancer diagnosis in their household is exactly the kind of recurring, constant care and support that is often missing for young people coping with cancer’s impact. It is truly impossible to imagine what the patients and their children are going through unless you have been through it yourself. I can tell you from first hand experience that every single child who must face the realities of this enormous gut punch needs and deserves every ounce of support, love and compassion that a program like this can help provide. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham and Wakefield does work that changes lives regularly. This offering hits close to home and I know the children and parents who need this will remember it forever.”
The announcement of this latest initiative is one of many that will encompass the Club’s new Here & Now mental health initiative. To learn more about this initiative, email [email protected]. For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham & Wakefield, visit bgcstoneham.org or bgcwakefield.org.
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About the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham & Wakefield
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham & Wakefield is a proud affiliate of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the nation’s most effective youth development organization in the United States. We are proud to work with young people from a wide range of economic, social and family circumstances, regardless of their gender, ethnic and racial background.
Our Clubs are open when kids need us most – after school, on most school holidays, and all day during the summer. Clubs offer safe places where young people can learn, grow, and succeed.
