Mr. Bart McFadden, President and CEO
John D. Lee Administrative Offices
967 Irwin Street
Knoxville, TN 37917
865-232-1200
https://bgctnv.org/
Child Food
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley’s Child Food Program addresses the critical need of childhood hunger in Knox County. Our Child Food Program provides USDA approved supper meals to youth in our afterschool program, summer boxed lunches and afternoon snacks to youth during our summer program, and breakfast or morning snacks to youth during the summer program (as well as snacks and meals to youth during school breaks when youth are out of school and attending the Club). Our Child Food Program aligns closely with United Way of Greater Knoxville’s focus area of Health by increasing youth access to nutritious food—as many youths would not have access to these nutritious meals and snacks if it were not for this program at the Boys & Girls Clubs.
Lifeskills Program
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley’s Lifeskills Program aligns with United Way of Greater Knoxville’s Education focus area of “Readiness to Succeed in Life”. Our Lifeskills Program serves middle and high school youth in our Club sites after school and during the summer, providing college and career readiness activities, as well as engaging these youth in volunteer and civic engagement activities that will enable them to engage, productive, caring young adults. Our Lifeskils Program also includes our College and Career Readiness programs offered in six Knox County High Schools, which target disadvantaged students, providing them with guidance counseling and support to enable them to graduate from high school on time, explore and chart college and career pathways, and apply for and secure enrollment in post-secondary education institutions upon graduation from high school.
Prevention & Safety
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley’s Prevention & Safety Program aligns with United Way of Greater Knoxville’s Health Target Issue 2: Safe Home and Community through promoting home and community safety practices and through decreasing risk factors associated with chronic disease and premature death. Our multi-faceted program includes specialized initiatives to reach youth most at risk and in need (such as our Social & Emotional Wellness Initiative and our Juvenile Justice Outreach Program), includes the delivery of primary prevention curriculums to be delivered to many youths across all Knox County Club sites, and includes integrating the teaching of key community safety messages through fun program activities when youth participate in our Club programs every day. The combination of these programs reach youth who need us most–those who face multiple risk factors for future health problems or crisis–and works to prevent health issues from occurring through not only teaching youth the consequences of engaging in risk behaviors–but more importantly, equipping youth with the skill sets necessary to build resiliency, build positive social skills, and practice healthy and safe behaviors so that they may have healthy futures.
YouthForce
The YouthForce program enables high school students in Knox County to become first-job ready, develop a plan, and build the skills employers value most. The program implements a model of progressive learning experiences in the form of soft-skills training, paid work-based learning experiences, and technical training exposure. YouthForce bridges the gap between the need’s teens have for workforce training with the need that area companies must have a skilled, workforce with the emerging needs.
“We exist to help every kid we serve reach their full potential… We serve over 8,000 kids a year with programs that seek to create positive outcomes in the areas of academic success, healthy lifestyles, and good character and citizenship.”