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JCPenney After School Fund gives 86 children of the Fredericksburg Regional Boys and Girls Club $100 gift cards for back-to-school shopping Date published: 10/21/2006
By KAFIA HOSH The school year has already begun, but back-to-school shopping is not over for 86 lucky members of the Fredericksburg Regional Boys and Girls Club. The children each received $100 JCPenney gift cards Thursday during an awards ceremony at the original Walker-Grant School in Fredericksburg. "We try to put our charitable money to programs that help kids," said Bev Allen, store manager of the JCPenney at Spotsylvania Towne Centre. "I'm very excited to be able to do this." The JCPenney After School Fund, a nonprofit organization created by the J.C. Penney Co. Inc., awarded 10,000 Boys and Girls Club members across the country with the $100 gift cards. The certificates can be used in departments for clothing for children, juniors and young men at JCPenney department stores nationwide or on the company's Web site. Parents were ecstatic for the extra cash to help buy their children school clothes. "I have four kids, and I needed the extra help," said Dawn Price, a single mother whose children William Fowler, 11, Leah Watson, 9, and Tyreke Price, 6, all received the gift cards. "This is a blessing for me and my kids," she said. "I really do appreciate this." Allen said the $100 gift cards will go a long way at JCPenney stores. "We always have sales so it should be a good value," she said. Kirastin Cole, 14, said she will use her gift card to buy jeans and shirts--the essential staples of most teenage wardrobes. She credits the Boys and Girls Club for her academic achievement. "It helped my grades improve," Kirastin said. The gift cards were in addition to a $25,000 grant the club received from the JCPenney After School Fund this year to go toward home work-assistance programs, field trips that expose children to the arts and sports including golf, tennis and field hockey. It's important to "engage kids in an activity that gives them a sense of ownership," said the club's senior branch director Forrest Parker. JCPenney's grant also paid for each child's club membership fee, which is $15 per year. Those weren't the only recent gifts received. Cox Communications in Fredericksburg announced recently it would give 10 computers, valued at $25,000, to the club. Cox also provides free high-speed Internet access to the club. Cox employee volunteers will team up with representatives from the Boys and Girls Club to hook up the computers today. Parker said children left home alone run the risk of engaging in delinquent activities and that after-school programs allow children to lead healthier lifestyles. "I can't tell you how many kids would be home alone [if it were not for the Boys and Girls Club]," said Parker, a club alumnus who grew up in Newport News. To reach KAFIA HOSH:
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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