The Club has prioritized their limited space for children of essential workers and parents who have to work outside the home and don’t have other options.
Cristina VittoriaIt was with that attention to safety and limited numbers that the Club hosted an improvised 18th annual Thanksgiving in the form of a drive-thru dinner pick up for about 100 families.
Each child went home with a turkey dinner for five family members, including sides, corn bread, a pie and sparkling apple cider.
There were masks. There was social distancing. There were smiling eyes from behind masks.
As children departed the Club for the day, each was escorted to their ride home by one of the limited volunteers, including Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones, Greenwich Police Chief James Heavey, First Selectman Fred Camillo, and Greenwich Fire Dept Chief Joseph McHugh.
Vittoria said the Club also provides a space for high schoolers to participate in remote learning at Greenwich High School.
“They can do remote learning here all day,” she said. “When they announced the GHS hybrid, with two days in the building and three remote, we opened the Club house during the day to each of the cohorts for each of their days not on campus.”
Over 20 teens signed up.
“The crazy part of it is our numbers have fluctuated because of quarantines,” Vittoria said. “We’ll have kids out two weeks because their class is quarantined.”
“It’s great to see these kids in the building every day and their parents are appreciative that we’re open and we’re committed to staying open as long as we can and its safe, and we’re in lockstep with the schools.”
– Cristina Vittoria, Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich CEO
In addition to offering a space for remote learning and after school programs for children who register in advance, the Club is also providing virtual programs for children who can’t get to the Club.
This includes after school enrichment, Greenwich United Way Reading Champions, Bridge to Success and other programs that are more about character development, including Passport to Manhood, Smart Girls and Club Fit.
“The biggest area that needed support for our programs and virtual clubs have been our teens,” Vittoria said. “They’re really missing that interaction at school. We’ve seen our teen membership increase with evening programs with Torch Club and Keystone Club.”
“This is an incredibly fulfilling job,” Vittoria said. “I bounce out of bed waiting to come to work every morning.”