SEQUIM — A program that helps keep Sequim teens off the streets at night has received a financial boost thanks to a $14,000 grant from the Benjamin N. Phillips Memorial Fund.
The Boys & Girls Club of the Olympic Peninsula in Sequim announced the grant Monday.
“Specifically, we have healthy habits going on in that room,” Mary Budke, interim director of the Sequim Boys & Girls Club at 400 W. Fir St., said of the teen center there.
The teen center, which serves an average of 30 youths a night, promotes self-esteem, cleanliness, good food choices and offers family planning assistance.
“The pillars are academic success with graduation being the ultimate goal, healthy lifestyles, character and leadership,” Budke said.
“We mentor one-on-one, we help with homework.”
The center also has a washer and dryer for teens to use, and clothes and toiletries are made available.
The grant allows the teen center to continue to operate its after-hours program for youths ages 13 to 18.
The Benjamin N. Phillips Memorial Fund was established by the estate of Joy Phillips to honor her late husband in 2006 as an area of interest fund of The Seattle Foundation.
The goal of the fund is to make grants to organizations improving the lives of Clallam County residents.
About $250,000 is distributed annually, with grants ranging in size from $1,000 to $25,000.
The Boys & Girls Club also was awarded a separate Ben and Myrtle Walkling Memorial Trust grant for $1,000 for the “Girls Night Out” eight-week health education program and the “Get Fit” eight-week fitness educational program for teen boys.
Budke said the teen center is the only evening program running so many nights.
It is open after school until 9 p.m. weekdays and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
“We are making them care more about themselves and others,” Budke said.
Like other Boys & Girls Club programs, the cost per child is $30 a year, but Budke was quick to say: “We don’t turn away anyone.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
