Boys & Girls Club seeks day-care assistance

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

To the Editor:

The staff and board of directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley would like to thank the community for its continued support. Because of caring individuals, community-focused businesses, and supportive foundations we’ve been able to provide a fun, safe, positive place for the kids in our community for over 15 years.

Recently, the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley was notified by the Deptartment of Health and Human Services that the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship program would be undergoing significant reductions in support to working families. This program, which supports child-care subsidies for working families with low incomes, has a budget deficit of at least $9.5 million. This means that families that would normally qualify for child-care subsidies are being placed on a waiting list, and families who are currently receiving subsidies must pay more as the state has reduced its benefits.

Our families are at risk. Families who lose this little bit of support from the state may end up needing more costly assistance – because without the child-care assistance, child care may no longer be affordable and they may no longer be able to keep working. In support of these families, the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley estimates that we will experience an increase of $25,000 in subsidized day-care service requests this year.

It’s been a challenging year for the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley. As with many families and businesses, the club has been affected by the economy; grant revenues have decreased along with government support while fundraising dollars are increasingly difficult to raise. And while we’ve instituted tighter expense controls and cost reductions while trying not to impact the quality of services we provide, this additional need for scholarship support will strain us even more.

We are asking for your support. Please consider sending a donation marked “scholarship support” to the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley, P.O. Box 916, Milford, NH 03055.

SUSAN TAYLOR

Executive Director

BOB HEATON

President of the Board of Directors