The Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club: The Day the Crayons Quit

 

Gordon Philanthropies has a new community partner: the Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club.

 

This club has existed for 75 years, which is an impressive feat. It is a 33,000-square-foot facility with a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and an athletic field. The club serves Northeast Los Angeles. For folks unfamiliar with this side of Los Angeles, it includes Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, and East Los Angeles, to name a few.

The club has over 700 students, grades K-12th, who participate in activities and classes year-round. In addition to providing a safe place for children to learn and play, the club is a cornerstone for the community and serves as a food bank for the families in need of groceries.

The students welcomed Gordon Philanthropies’ Communities That Read Together, Grow Together reading program, and each student received a copy of The Day the Crayons Quit. This visit included an art activity and a cupcake party to end the day.

Gordon Philanthropies has donated 650 books to the children from the club and we hope their reading enthusiasm continues to grow as they progress to the next school grade. The education director, Maria Myrick, collaborated with her staff and children to choose books of interest to the students. This is a highlight for Gordon Philanthropies since the partnership is strengthened when both parties work in unison to really make reading exciting for our youth.

The children were visited by Two Crayons, Gordon Philanthropies’ fabulous actors, who read a story as the children followed along. During the reading, the kids hung on to every word as they learned what was irking each crayon, such as why the Red Crayon was so upset—the crayon felt overworked with all the kids using the color red for strawberries, holidays such as Christmas, and especially overworked on Valentine’s Day! The story goes on to explain why the White Crayon and the other colors feel left out and invisible. Finally, the book ends by expressing the value of using all the colors to create harmony. It is a great story, and highly recommended if you have not read it yet, with so much creativity that both adults and children will be moved by the plot.

Thank you to the executive leadership and staff who helped make the event a success and to the students, who, with their amazing smiles and gigantic hearts, are a testament to how smart, kind, and amazing our little people are.

Gordon Philanthropies feels honored to work with the Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club. The foundation is keen on keeping its commitment to going to communities that need an additional level of educational support and resources.

 

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