NEW ROCHELLE, NY (April 25, 2022) – Today, Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle (BGCNR) kicked off Boys & Girls Club Week with its annual “Civic Day,” in partnership with the New Rochelle Youth Bureau. Twenty-one BGCNR members shadowed City of New Rochelle commissioners and officials, Superintendent Jonathan Raymond of The City School District of New Rochelle, and Catherine White of the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce to learn more about the work involved in public service.
These outstanding students were selected to participate in this initiative based on their efforts and achievements during the school year. While serving as youth mayor and city council members for the day, they created an agenda of issues for local officials to consider, which will be presented during an upcoming government session next month. The agenda items ask:
- That the city council and school district come together to address negative behavior demonstrated by some youth pertaining to youth violence, sexual assault, and bullying;
- That a city-wide “City Manager Youth Council” be created to discuss ways in which the city and local youth may work together to improve various quality-of-life issues (garbage, littering, and graffiti); and
- That a campaign be created to address negative perceptions of community development, whereby the benefits of community development efforts may be promoted and marketed to the community.
Civic Day is one of the myriad BGCNR programs that prepare youth to be the problem solvers, innovators, and leaders who shape our world. We work to ensure their voices are heard in our community, as well as the state and federal level, as we champion policies and solutions that will have the greatest positive impact on our members, their families, and the City of New Rochelle as a whole.
About Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle
Founded in 1929, the Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle has been an integral part of the New Rochelle community, offering its youth safe and achievement-driven programming focused on the whole child that encompasses academics, mental wellness, fitness, leadership, and civics. Today, it serves nearly 3,000 youth and 1,000 members each year, at various school sites and two clubhouse locations, offering them a safe place to learn and grow, ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals, life-enhancing programs and character development experiences, and hope and opportunity.