by Monique Mayo, Branch Director, George M. Ferris Clubhouse #6
 
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On Wednesday March 26, during Boys & Girls Club Week all four of the DC clubs came together to celebrate one of our core areas of focus: Character & Citizenship. Members packed bags for adults who are served through Street Sense, a D.C.-based non-profit organization that provides a 16-page biweekly street newspaper. The mission of Street Sense is to offer economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness in our community through a newspaper that elevates voices and encourages debate on poverty and injustice. The newspaper features news, editorials, poems and art about homelessness, poverty, and other social issues. About 50% of the paper is written by homeless and formerly homeless individuals and the other articles come from staff and volunteers, who include journalists, students, advocates and a wide variety of other professionals.
 
During the BGCGW service day, 30 of our Torch and Keystone Club members from Clubhouse 14, FBR, Jelleff and Clubhouse 6 met at Jelleff (Jello as some kids called it) and packed 79 bags. Each bag was filled with toiletries,writing supplies, mini notebooks, hats, and socks. During the event our youth interacted with each other and worked together to achieve one goal. It was great to be a witness to an effort that our youth and staff supported. We are very proud of the energy and genuine passion to serve that our kids showed. What a way to celebrate BGCA Week!