Women's 20-30 writes big check to Boys & Girls Club

The Women's Sierra Nevada Active 20-30 No. 730 presented a $10,000 check to the Boys & Girls Club of the Carson Valley on Aug. 22 to help with supplies and activities for the children that attend the Boys & Girls Club.

"Raising $10,000 was a lot of work but so worth it once we see what our money is going toward," said Jennifer Norman, past national president of 20-30 United States and Canada. "The Boys & Girls Club is going to affect many children in our community and we love that we're able to assist with a positive change in the community."

The women of the club raised the money by hosting the association's national convention in New Orleans in June. Each year the national association chooses one or two clubs to plan the national convention and Sierra Nevada won the bid.

"We decided to go to New Orleans because at the time of our bid submission, Hurricane Katrina had just hit and we knew we could take our organization there and help with the rebuilding process," said Shannon Johnson, chairwoman for the national convention.

While in New Orleans, Active 20-30 clubs of the U.S. and Canada presented a check for $40,000 to three of the eight devastated Boys & Girls clubs on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to help rebuild what was damaged during Hurricane Katrina.

A tradition of all Active 20-30 clubs in the United States is Pennies-a-Day, a program where every member contributes one penny a day to improve a child's life. At the end of the term, each club presents their collections to the national convention host club to donate to their organization of choice.

This year the ladies of Sierra Nevada chose to donate to the Boys & Girls Club of Carson Valley. An additional $2,500 was donated as a result of an international grant.

"We're so happy we can be a part of something that is so meaningful in this community," said Jacquie Manoukian, 20-30 club president and Boys & Girls Club board member. "We're sure the $10,000 we gave will help with field trips and necessary supplies to keep the club running for the school year."

"One of our main goals is to contribute something to our community that will not only affect one child's life but affect many children's lives, and we believe the Boys & Girls Club will do that," said Johnson.