Vermont Business Magazine The Boys & Girls Club of Burlington announced today that they received a $20,000 grant from the Comcast Foundation to help expand the My.Future technology initiative, a hands-on technology training to equip Club kids with the skills needed to compete in a 21st century economy. In celebration of the one-year anniversary of the launch of My.Future, Comcast announced the grant which will provide the Club with funding needed to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and program supplies that allow better academic support for the children and youth who come to the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington.
My.Future is a cutting-edge technology education initiative that provides hands-on experience and enables the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington members to select from more than 40 activities to help them understand how to safely and productively engage online, and identify and develop digital interests – from Internet basics for technology beginners, to robotics, coding, game design and online journalism for advancers learners. The generous support from the Comcast Foundation enables the Club to purchase computers, tablets, smartboards and the Lego Robotic kits needed to fully implement and teach the My.Future curriculum.
“Developing technology skills is not a luxury that can be reserved for the more affluent among us”, said Mary Alice McKenzie, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington. “And Comcast understands that it is critical that EVERY child receive the opportunity to develop technology skills needed to pursue promising careers so that they can thrive in today’s world. Through My.Future, Burlington kids have the chance to interact with technology in meaningful ways that prepare them for their own great futures.”
“For example,” McKenzie said, “one of our Club members who participated in the technology program sponsored by Comcast discovered a love of technology that led him to work tenaciously so that he could go to college to major in Computer Science. It’s not just about being the first in his family to go to college; it’s that becoming skilled in the uses of technology has put him on a path of achieving a sustainable life.”
In 2015, the Comcast Foundation invested more than $3 million in Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s (BGCA) My.Future technology initiative. BGCA is using $1.5 million to further develop and build-out the My.Future program. The remaining funding is being awarded to approximately 90 local Boys & Girls Clubs across the country, including Boys & Girls Clubs of Burlington to ensure they have access to the technology, tools and teachers to fully activate the program. The grant is part of Comcast NBCUniversal’s five-year partnership with BGCA, which was announced last year and is valued at tens of millions of dollars.
Since 2011, Comcast and the Comcast Foundation have dedicated more than $240 million in cash and in-kind support to fund digital readiness initiatives nationwide, reaching nearly 3.2 million people through non-profit, digital literacy partners, including BGCA. Comcast has supported local Boys & Girls Clubs for more than a decade, providing more than $100 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
About the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington:
The Boys & Girls Club of Burlington is a safe haven where 250 children and youth a day can find the academic and social emotional support they need to build their own great futures. Since 1942 the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington has been dedicated to the support of the children who need us the most.
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 one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers 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.comfor more information.
About the Comcast Foundation:
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations.The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities—promoting service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow’s leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $170 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.
BURLINGTON, VT December 17, 2015 – The Boys & Girls Club of Burlington