What will Boys and Girls Clubs do with Intentional Walk donations?

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — More than $10,000 was raised through the Rochester Red Wings Intentional Walk.

To get to that amount, more than 500 miles was walked on treadmills in the concourse of Innovative Field.

It was all to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester, The Boys and Girls Club of Geneva and The Boys and Girls Club of Rochester.

The challenge started on July 4 and ran until Sunday, July 9.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of both Rochester and Geneva say they are grateful for both the money and the exposure.

“A fun place, a safe place, a place where it’s family-oriented,” said Tysy Hughes, program director of the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester.

The Boys and Girls Club became what we now know in 1990 and is a place for kids under the age of 18 from all backgrounds to go to during the summer and after school.

But they offer so much more than just activities.

“We actually start with toddlers, families with new babies. Getting diapers, food, counseling — a variety of things like that so they’re prepared and ready to go to school when school comes,” Chris Lavin, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club in Geneva, said.

The Boys and Girls Club in Geneva helps all ages but takes a special interest in helping toddlers in their town.

The money they will be receiving from the Rochester Red Wings Intentional Walk will be put toward a program they call “The First Thousand Days.”

“But when you look at 1-, 2- and 3-year-olds, it’s a very isolated time of life. Families are often not trained in raising an infant. So we turn our gym everyday open to a little Disneyland of fun. We have breakfast for kids, we have diapers …,” said Lavin.

However, the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester focuses on where they are and keeping their kids away from crime.

“I’m ecstatic about being a part of something where we can be in the heart of the community where most of the crime is, and we keep most of these kids off the street,” said Hughes. “We actually have a program, a social and emotional program that we started for our kids for when they do go through those things and when they have those challenges, they can come here and they can see someone.”

The yearly membership to the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester is $11 per child, and the membership to the Boys and Girls Club in Geneva is free.

You can find the Rochester’s Boys and Girls Club website here: https://bgcrochester.org/. The Geneva Boys and Girls Club’s site is at https://bgcgeneva.org/.