Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme Receive $100,000 Grant

OXNARD, Calif. - Nov. 30, 2016 - PRLog -- The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme (BGCOP) has been awarded a $100,000 grant through the Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Foundation to support BGCOP's mission to provide a safe haven after school and during school breaks for youth ages 6-18. BGCOP currently services more than 10,400 local youth annually, providing a positive environment with quality programs dedicated to the arts, education, character and leadership development, health and recreation.

"We are so grateful to the Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Foundation for their generous support of the quality programs and services we work so hard to provide to the underserved youth of Oxnard and Port Hueneme. It's through grants like this that we can help today's children become caring, responsible, contributing community members of the future," said Erin Antrim, BGCOP president and CEO. "These funds will go a long way to ensure our program quality remains high and we're able to reach the children who need us most."

Antrim went on to explain that over 21 percent of children in Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme are living in poverty. Through its programs and services, the Club seeks to provide positive role models, enhance school achievement, promote higher education and provide life-skills training in order to help these children shape a brighter future and break the cycle of poverty.

"Our vision is to ensure that every child in Oxnard and Port Hueneme has the opportunity to attend the Club. We charge only $20 a year for a youth to join the Club and no one is ever turned away due to financial hardship," adds Antrim. "For every dollar spent on BGCOP programs, there is a $17 return over time, to the state and our communities in tax revenues, value of employment, ability of parents to work and go to school, and savings for programs that serve undereducated and underemployed residents."

The Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Foundation was established by Martin V. "Bud" Smith and his wife Martha with the mission "To enhance the quality of life for the residents of Ventura County." Bud, the leading land and business developer in Ventura County for more than 50 years, and his wife Martha, hoped the Foundation would involve future generations of their family in continuing their appreciation of Ventura County and their care and concern for strengthening the community. Four of the Smith's descendants serve on the board of the Foundation. Joining the Ventura County Community Foundation as a support organization in 1994, the Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Foundation provides funding to nonprofits in Ventura County through an annual grant program, with an emphasis on organizations serving the Oxnard plain.

Established in 1954, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) youth service organization. Its mission is "to inspire and enable all youth, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential, as productive, responsible and caring citizens." Services are provided to 10,400 youth and teens in three freestanding clubhouses in Oxnard and Port Hueneme, 12 public school program sites, one satellite site in Nyeland Acres, one site at a Squires Public Housing, and the first Boys & Girls Club in a juvenile hall in the state of California. There are five core areas under which programming and special initiatives are delivered: career & education, character & leadership, health & life skills, the arts, and sports, fitness and recreation. For more information or to schedule a tour, visit www.BGCOP.org.