Newton, MA. – February 3, 2016 – On Tuesday, The John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club of Newton hosted a celebration and signage unveiling to mark the completion of renovations and educational programming expansion made possible by a $340,000 donation from the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation. Five city officials were in attendance, including Newton Mayor Setti Warren as well as City Councilors Emily Norton, Jake Auchincloss, Ruthanne Fuller, and Scott Lennon. Members of both The John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club and the Rockland Trust Foundation boards also attended the event, as well as over 100 Boys & Girls Club members.
“The Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation is proud to have made these renovations for increased safety at the Club and, especially, such wonderful new learning-focused programs possible,” said Jane Lundquist, President of the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation, and Director of Consumer and Small Business Banking at Rockland Trust. “We have a long-standing mission to support the neighborhoods we serve and the Boys & Girls Club of Newton, which shares our values, offered us a unique opportunity to do that.”
Last May, Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation donated the funds to renovate the Club’s lobby, and to create an expanded education program which includes a full time teacher as Education Director; the addition of new and engaging STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) programs, such as Lego robotics, Russian Math, and Anatomy, for all ages, and establish the Curiosity Club, an all-new licensed afterschool program for children in Grades K-2 with its own dedicated space and a fulltime certified teacher with experience in early childhood development. The renovated lobby now provides improved monitoring and clear sight lines to all access points, full video monitoring capabilities, a public information video system, and a more comfortable place for parents to wait while their children play safely.
“Our mission is to inspire and enable young people to reach their full potential,” said Dave Sellers, Executive Director of The John M. Barry Boys and Girls Club of Newton. “Rockland Trust’s generosity helps our organization achieve that by allowing us to offer diverse new educational programs such as the Curiosity Club for our youngest kids and STEM activities for all ages at the Club.”
About Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation
The Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation focuses its charitable giving on four main areas, education, health and human services, youth programs, and community development. To date, the Foundation has distributed more than $4 million in grants to qualified non-profit organizations. For information about the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation, please contact Jeanne Travers at 781-982-6637.
About Rockland Trust
Independent Bank Corp. has approximately $7.2 billion in assets and is the holding company for Rockland Trust Company, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Massachusetts. Rockland Trust offers a wide range of banking, investment, and insurance services to businesses and individuals through retail branches, commercial lending offices, investment management offices, and residential lending centers located in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as through telephone banking, mobile banking, and the Internet. Named in 2015 to The Boston Globe’s “Top Places to Work” list for the seventh consecutive year, Rockland Trust was rated the top Largest Employer to work for in Massachusetts. The Company is also an FDIC member and an Equal Housing Lender. To find out why Rockland Trust is the bank “Where Each Relationship Matters ®”, please visit https://www.rocklandtrust.com.
About The John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club of Newton
The Boys & Girls Club of Newton was originally founded in 1899 as the Nonantum Athletic Association which was formed to provide recreational services for boys and in the 1950's became the Boys Club of Newton affiliated with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. In the 1980's it was renamed The Boys & Girls Club. It moved to its current location at 675 Watertown Street in 1999. Active membership is today at over 500 young people, ages 5-18. Recognizing that all youth are at risk, the Boys & Girls Club of Newton inspires and enables young people every year to reach their full potential as productive, caring, and responsible citizens. The Club provides adult guidance and mentoring through six core program areas of education, health and fitness, the arts, leadership and lifestyle skills, sports, and community involvement to keep kids safe, engaged, active, and learning when not in school. To learn more about the John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club of Newton and its programs, visit www.newtonbgc.com/index.php.
