Rochester Boys and Girls Club receives $10,000 donation to support children’s programs

ROCHESTER, NY — The Boys and Girls Club of Rochester received a donation Thursday that will help many children and their families who attend.

Nearly 800 pounds of food and a check for $10,000 were donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester by IDEX Corporation to help improve the lives of many children.

Tamyah Simon knows how life-changing such donations can be.

“At one time, my family was having trouble paying rent. Mr. Mahoney was funding some of the children’s rent and someone donated the money for that purpose,” Simon said.

She joined the club when she was 10 years old. Now she works there, and tells News10NBC she wants to give back to a program that continues to give to her.

“The Boys and Girls Club also gives us a $1,000 scholarship at the end of each summer so we can go back to school,” Simon said.

Dwayne Mahoney, the club’s executive director, says he is extremely grateful to IDEX for the donation.

“They could easily put the donation somewhere else, but they know how important it is,” Mahoney said.

Mahoney says he wants to use the money to improve the club’s programs. He tells News10NBC how important he believes early STEM learning is and wants to purchase new equipment and tools to help kids learn about it.

“Kids don’t get exposed to real science activities until middle school, where we want to start as early as third grade. And then by the time they get to middle school, they have a sense of environmental science and other types of science,” Mahoney said.

The donation will benefit not only the children, but their parents as well. Mahoney says he will contact all families and let them know that food is available if they need it.

“Whenever we have the opportunity to distribute food … that’s something we need to do now,” Mahoney said.

Thanks to donations like these, the children who now attend the club may one day be able to think the same way as Simon.

“I thank them every day that I can be the adult I am today. Thanks to them,” said Simon.

Every donation received by the Boys and Girls Club is put to good use, whether it be food, clothing or money. The club always accepts donations from the community.

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