$40 Million Initiative Will Include Funding
for New ‘Ralph J. Roberts Boys & Girls Club’ in Germantown and
an Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation Ice Rink
Six Additional Boys & Girls Clubs to
Receive Major Overhaul
Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia (BGCP) announced today
the kickoff of “A Bold Change for Kids,” a $40 million capital
campaign that will greatly benefit thousands of youth who attend
Clubs throughout Philadelphia. About half of the funds raised will
be used to build a new, state-of-the-art Boys & Girls Club in
Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood, as well as a new ice hockey
rink which will be operated by the Ed Snider Youth Hockey
Foundation. The remaining funds will be used to renovate six
additional Clubs in the Philadelphia area. The Roberts family and
the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation are jumpstarting the campaign
with an $8 million donation, and David L. Cohen, Senior Executive
Vice President of Comcast Corporation, will serve as the campaign
chair.
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In honor of Comcast’s founder Ralph J. Roberts and his
commitment to Philadelphia, as well as Comcast’s longstanding
partnership with the BGCP and nationally, the new Germantown Club
will be named the Ralph J. Roberts Boys & Girls Club. This is
especially appropriate because Ralph lived in Germantown when he
first moved to Philadelphia and he and the company have had a
special connection to the Germantown community ever since.
“Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia offer life-changing
opportunities for kids, and we are pleased to be able to give back
to them to support their efforts. It gives me so much pride when I
hear the stories of the youth who attend these Clubs because they
are choosing to select a positive path in life, and we are thankful
to be able to contribute to providing them with a world-class
facility to learn, grow, and play,” said Cohen.
Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, added
that, “We are incredibly honored and humbled that Boys & Girls
Clubs of Philadelphia has decided to name the new Germantown Club
after Comcast’s founder, Ralph Roberts. His commitment to
Philadelphia is immeasurable, and we look forward to seeing the
next generation of leaders that come through Boys & Girls Clubs
of Philadelphia.”
The Ralph J. Roberts Boys & Girls Club will be one of the
most technologically-advanced Clubs in the country and will include
an Internet Essentials Lab, Digital Literacy Center, STEM lab, art
room, Kids Café, dance room, music studio, social recreation
space, several classrooms, a double gym that can host soccer,
basketball, and volleyball leagues, as well as an adjacent
full-size ice hockey rink.
The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation will build and operate
this new ice rink in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club.
The Foundation provides more than 3,000 underserved boys and girls
the opportunity to play hockey with an emphasis on character
development, life skills, fitness, nutrition and academics. Snider
Hockey currently operates its programs at five other public rinks
in the City of Philadelphia, as well as the Flyers Skate Zone in
Pennsauken, NJ. All of Snider Hockey youth programs including ice
time, coaching, equipment, travel, and academic services are
delivered at no cost to city residents.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the Germantown Boys & Girls
Club and Comcast on this wonderful project,” said Ed Snider. “This
project is congruent with the mission of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey
Foundation, which is to build lives and unite communities. We’re
excited and can’t wait for the children, youth, and families of
this neighborhood to be able to enjoy the new Ralph J. Roberts Boys
& Girls Club and our newest Ed Snider Youth Hockey
Foundation location.”
The 128-year-old Germantown Club was one of the first chartered
Boys Clubs in the nation. Today, more than 7,000 youth ages 5 to 18
live within a 1.5 mile-radius of the Club. Within this same area,
50 percent of children live below the poverty line. The violent
crime rate in Germantown is 38 per 1,000 — over 10 times the
national average and three times greater than the overall rate in
Philadelphia.
“Since 1887, the staff at the Germantown Boys & Girls Club
has guided, listened to, advocated for and learned from these kids,
who sometimes live in unimaginable circumstances. Kids for whom
domestic violence, abuse, neglect and poverty were not issues they
heard about on television, but tragic realities that touched their
everyday lives. At the Club, the phrase ‘at-risk youth‘ is not an
abstract concept, but rather a description that reminds us of the
faces and names of real kids we have come to know—smart, brave and
inspiring—kids we’ll never forget,” said Joseph and Lisabeth
Marziello, CEOs of Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia. “We are
so thankful to the Roberts family, the Ed Snider Youth Hockey
Foundation, and Comcast for helping us to launch this campaign,
providing hope and opportunity for the youth of our city so they
have the ability to succeed.”
The distressed conditions of the current Clubs present
significant challenges and concerns. Many of the buildings date
back decades or more, and critical maintenance needs have been
neglected over time due to lack of funding. Now, as boilers fail,
floors slant, and broken windows accumulate, BGCP can no longer
continue to just patch the buildings up year after year. The six
additional Philadelphia Clubs that will receive extensive repairs
are: Bridesburg Boys & Girls Club, Northeast Frankford Boys
& Girls Club, Police Officer Lauretha Vaird Boys & Girls
Club, Shane Victorino Nicetown Boys & Girls Club, Wayne Avenue
Boys & Girls Club, and Wissahickon Boys & Girls Club.
Utilizing the support of community leaders, the new and
renovated Clubs will create safe and fun learning spaces for
Philadelphia’s youth, expanding the number of youth served by 250
percent and addressing these children’s needs more comprehensively
through innovative literacy, STEM, healthy lifestyles, and
career-building programming.
“Despite inheriting a nearly $2 million deficit and dilapidated
buildings, Joseph and Lisabeth Marziello have been able to
completely rebuild our organization since joining in 2012.
Together, they have brought new transformational life to our Clubs.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia are extremely fortunate to
have these two visionary leaders who have brought financial and
programmatic accountability and sustainability along with a
professional pride through quality staff, facilities and clearly
defined standards,” said Mike Cola, Board Chair, Boys & Girls
Clubs of Philadelphia.
In November, Comcast NBCUniversal announced a new, five-year
agreement with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) valued at
tens of millions of dollars and launched a new technology program,
called My.Future to teach Club kids about our digital world and get
them passionate about the endless possibilities that technology
offers. As part of that announcement, Comcast renovated four BGCA
Clubs, including the Wayne Avenue Boys & Girls Club, with new
state-of-the-art technologies. More recently, Comcast renovated a
My.Future lab at the Northeast Frankford Boys & Girls Club as
part of the 14th annual Comcast Cares Day and provided $50,000 in
grants to support property improvements and equipping the lab.
Comcast has supported Boys & Girls Clubs for nearly 15
years, providing approximately $90 million in cash and in-kind
contributions since 2009 alone.
Others who have stepped up to help BGCP champion “A Bold Change
for Kids” by participating on the board are Howie Roseman of the
Philadelphia Eagles, Pete Musser of The Musser Group, Robert Ross
of Ross Feller Casey, Philadelphia Councilwoman Cindy Bass, and
Michael Cola of Medgenics.
For information on how to contribute to the Bold Change for Kids
campaign, please contact Lisabeth Marziello at 215-735-8818 or
email boldchanges@bgcphila.org.
About Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia
For more than 128 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia
have been dedicated to ensuring that Philadelphia’s youth have a
safe, positive alternative to the negative influences that plague
our local neighborhoods. As Philadelphia’s premier youth guidance
and development agency, Boys & Girls Clubs provide fun and
engaging educational programs for thousands of kids annually, ages
6 to 19 years, at 12 of Philadelphia’s most neglected and
impoverished neighborhoods. Staff direct life-enhancing programs
for youth in five core areas: Character & Leadership
Development, Education & Career Development, Health & Life
Skills, Arts & Culture, and Sports, Fitness & Recreation.
Learn more at www.BGCPhila.org.
About Comcast Corporation:
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and
technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and
NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is the nation’s largest video,
high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers
under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to
businesses. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports
cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks,
television production operations, television station groups,
Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit
www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150519006700/en/
Comcast CorporationJohn
Demming215-286-8011john_demming@comcast.comorKatie
Lubenow215-286-5691katie_lubenow@comcast.comorBoys & Girls
Clubs of PhiladelphiaLisabeth Marziello, CEO215-735-8818, ext.
113marziellol@bgcphila.org
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