Hard work really does pay off. Last year, 18-year-old Madison Healy, a member of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana’s South Haven Club since she was a 5-year-old, was shadowing a server at the Portage Buffalo Wild Wings during the annual Community Day. Madison was offered a job at the end of the event because she did so well and is still working there more than a year later.
This year, Club members were shadowing Madison, who credits Boys & Girls Clubs for contributing to her success, “I’m so thankful for the Teen Enterprise program at the Club. It has opened many doors for me such as this Give Back – Community Night. Because I was involved and was prepared with essential skills such as understanding business basics, a solid work ethic and social skills, I performed well and BDubs hired me for a position I was not even applying for.”
Madison plans on attending Indiana University, majoring in Elementary Education. It was really inspiring for many of the youth to see the Buffalo Wild Wings Community Day program come full-circle for Madison, who was once a member shadowing a worker, to then mentoring and having Club members shadow her. This is a great example of the positive impact of community and corporate partnerships.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana members had a blast on April 17th as they teamed up with team members of Buffalo Wild Wings from across the Region. Youth were able to shadow servers, play games, participate in ice cream and wing eating contests, and interact with guests. This was Buffalo Wild Wings 6th Annual Community Day where 10 percent of all restaurant sales benefited Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana.
Allen Long, Shift Manager at the Portage restaurant said, “Being with Buffalo Wild Wings for almost 5 and a half years now, there is nothing that I enjoy more than highlighting our Team Up for Kids mission in our communities. We host these events not just to raise money, but to raise awareness about the important services and programs offered at Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana’s ten area Clubs. Our mission statement for Buffalo Wild Wings, Team Up for Kids is: We believe that there is a Champion in every child. We are committed to helping build communities where all kids can thrive and belong to a team.”
About Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana:
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana has been offering hope and opportunity to local youth since 1954 by providing a safe place for kids to learn and grow through life-enhancing, after-school and summer programming with the support of highly trained professional staff and adult mentors. BGCGREATERNWI helps to build GREAT Futures by offering fun, engaging and impactful programs to 10,000 local youth, ages 5 to 18 throughout Lake and Porter counties in ten Clubs and eleven before-and-after school Kidstop school-based sites. Annual membership is only $35.00. For information on membership, volunteer opportunities, or to make a small, impactful donation, please contact your local Club by calling (219) 764-CLUB or visiting bgcgreaternwi.org. Great Futures Start HERE.
