June 17, 2020
Since summer operations have started, we have carried forward the following important safety and sanitization protocols to ensure risk of transmission and dissemination of illness is reduced as much as possible as the Treasure Valley continues to work together in combatting the Covid-19 virus. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Ada County is committed to safety as one of its core values and would like to thank its families for their active participation in following Central District Health guidelines to help our community through this time.
Operational Covid-19 Safety Measures:
• Anyone with illness of any kind is urged to remain home among both staff and youth served.
• All youth and staff are temperature checked as they enter the facility.
• Anyone with symptoms or a fever at our entrance is immediately isolated and sent home from the facility.
• All opportunities to limit close interactions are being taken.
• Contact surfaces will be sanitized and disinfected on an hourly basis and between transitions.
• Groups will wash/sanitize their hands regularly and follow a hand washing/sanitization schedule.
• All Staff are wearing masks while on the floor with children and/or team members.
• All children are encouraged to wear masks in a pros-social manner when available or provided from home. No child is forced to wear a mask or disciplined for not wearing a mask.
• Entrance to the Club is limited, even the lobby, to only employees and members approved to attend.
• Meal times are staggered where necessary to ensure proper social distancing while consuming food.
• The site has a designated “sick room” to isolate any staff or children who have developed any symptoms such as fever or cough.
The above safety protocols meet and exceed the Central District Health guidelines for operating care facilities for children, are monitored hourly, and are reported on weekly for compliance and immediate response to issues that arise, thus ensuring we are consistent in our implementation of these procedures, all of which are subject to change as directed by Central District Health.
On behalf of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Ada County, our staff and families, I’d like to thank everyone for doing their part to combat this public health crisis and encourage everyone to stay safe, remain socially distant from those outside their household, wear a mask when public interaction is unavoidable, and avoid congregated settings until notice is provided that it is safe to do otherwise. If we all work together as a community, we can overcome any obstacle together. Please know that your Club is here to support you through this difficult time.
March 30, 2020
Boys & Girls Clubs Opens Two Additional Clubs to Provide Emergency Child Care Amid COVID-19 Crisis
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Ada County, in collaboration with the Boise School District, are opening up two additional “pop up” Club sites to provide additional emergency child care relief amid the COVID-19 crisis. Beginning Monday, April 6, in addition to the Club’s five current sites, children of health care workers, first responders, and essential personnel will have two additional Boise sites made available to them at Hawthorne Elementary and Koelsch Elementary. All-day child care services will cost just $6 per day, and will make the Club available to children from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday-Friday. These Club sites will serve K-6th grade.
Parents interested in enrolling their children up at the new Club sites may contact:
• Hawthorne Club: Wendy Heidrich at wendy@adaclubs.org or (208) 639-3158
• Koelsch Club: Noel Bolduc at Noel@adaclubs.org (208) 639-3175
Enrollment for children of health care workers, first responders, and essential personnel is also available at any of the five other Clubs located in Boise, Meridian, Garden City, and Kuna. Go to www.adaclubs.org to find contact information for the Club you wish to enroll your children in.
In addition to extended emergency child care services, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Ada County are continuing to offer grab-and-go breakfast and lunch combo meals to all families with children in Ada and Canyon Counties. Prepackaged meals are served drive-thru style every Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at three locations: Riverfront Park on 42nd St. in Garden City, Meridian Elementary Playground, and Boys & Girls Club of Nampa. Meals are available for all children ages 1-18, regardless of free and reduced lunch eligibility or their school of attendance. Meals will be provided while supplies last. No application is needed. Children must be present in order to receive their meals. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
March 26, 2020
In light of the governor’s order to stay at home unless an essential service, we will remain open at all locations so that we can continue to serve the immediate child care needs for our healthcare workers, first responders, and all essential community personnel as defined by the Central District Health and Governor’s Office.
While social isolation is in place, we must still urge families who can safely stay home with their children to do so. This helps us ensure CDC recommended social volumes remain reasonable at our Clubs. Please see the below list of personnel who are able to provide essential services as outlined by the State of Idaho.
To be clear, we remain open for the children of parents who must remain at work to ensure our communities are safe and supplied.
Summer Registrations
We know some parents may be wondering when they can register for summer and/or resumed school year services. Once we are able to do so, we will grant Club access to full and regular Club services upon notification from public health officials. We will communicate with you as soon as this information becomes available to us.
Within 24 hours of when we receive word when normal operations will resume for what remains of the school year and for summer, we will make registrations available to you on the parent portal and send all parents an email alerting them to this change. You must be signed up for Club alerts to receive this message. Priority will be given to renewing parents.
Thank you for being such a good community through this difficult time, we will get through this together.
If you have any questions, please contact your Club Director. You may also contact our Director of Operations, Joey Schueler at joey@adaclubs.org.
March 18, 2020
Yesterday, our Board of Directors and Club leadership met with Central District Health Idaho. At this time, CDH has strongly urged us to remain open for as long as possible so that we can continue to serve the immediate child care needs for our healthcare workers, first responders, essential community personnel, and parents who absolutely must continue working to maintain their employment.
As of Tuesday, March 17, all five of our Ada County Club sites are open and will be operating at extended hours of 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. We will be monitoring our staff and Club members regularly for symptoms, and will continue to thoroughly disinfect high traffic touch surfaces frequently.
In addition to making sure families have a safe place for their children to be, our nutrition team will be preparing and distributing breakfast and lunch meal kits to any child in need.
Beginning Thursday, March 19, 2020, prepackaged grab-and-go meals will be available to all children between the hours of 11:30-1:00 p.m. at:
• Riverfront Park in Garden City
• Meridian Elementary Playground
• Boys & Girls Club of Nampa
Please share this email or our Facebook and Twitter posts. We need your help to spread the word so we can reach as many hungry children in our community as possible. Thank you!
March 17, 2020
This morning, our Board of Directors and Club leadership met with Central District Health Idaho. CDH has strongly recommended that we remain open for as long as possible to serve the immediate childcare needs for our healthcare workers, first responders, essential community personnel, and parents who absolutely must continue working to maintain their employment.
All five of our Club sites are open and will be operating at extended hours of 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
We will be monitoring our staff and Club members regularly for symptoms and will continue to thoroughly and frequently disinfect high traffic touch surfaces. Please do not send your child to the Club with any of the following symptoms: fever, cough, or shortness of breath. If members display any of these symptoms, they will be isolated and parents will be contacted immediately.
This situation is ongoing and information changes rapidly. We will continue to update you as more information comes in. Check www.adaclubs.org for updates.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out directly to your Club’s Unit Director:
MOSELEY CENTER: OPEN 7AM-6PM
Unit Director: Noel Bolduc, noel@adaclubs.org
MERIDIAN CLUB: OPEN 7AM-6PM
Unit Director: Darnisha Orcutt, darnisha@adaclubs.org
PEREGRINE CLUB: OPEN 7AM-6PM
Unit Director: Wendy Heidrich, wendy@adaclubs.org
DESERT SAGE CLUB: OPEN 7AM-6PM
Unit Director: Wendy Heidrich, wendy@adaclubs.org
KUNA CLUB: OPEN 7AM-6PM
Unit Director: Ben Gangwer, ben@adaclubs.org
March 16, 2020
We are working closely with the Central District Health Idaho as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will be evaluating and adapting our services as needed to help slow the spread of COVID-19 through our community. As our local school districts have announced closures, our Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to focus our remaining Club operations on providing emergency childcare to healthcare workers, first responders, essential community personnel, and parents who absolutely must continue working to maintain their employment.
At this time, the Moseley Center, Meridian Club, and Kuna Club will remain open. We respectfully ask everyone to only register in cases of absolute necessity. It is absolutely crucial to the health of our community that all children and adults who are able to stay home during this time do so.
We will be monitoring our staff and Club members regularly for symptoms and will continue to thoroughly disinfect high traffic touch surfaces frequently. Please do not send your child to the Club with any of the following symptoms: fever, cough, or shortness of breath. If members display any of these symptoms, they will be isolated and parents will be contacted immediately.
As you know, this situation is ongoing and information changes rapidly. Please rest assured that we will continue to serve the immediate needs of our community for as long as we are able to. We will continue to update you as more information comes in.
We are in this together and we will get through this together. Thank you for your understanding.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your Club’s unit director.
MOSELEY CENTER: OPEN 7AM-6PM
Moseley Center will be operating at extended hours of 7am-6pm on Tuesday 3/17. Unit Director: Noel Bolduc, noel@adaclubs.org
MERIDIAN CLUB: OPEN 7AM-6PM
Unit Director: Darnisha Orcutt, darnisha@adaclubs.org
PEREGRINE CLUB: CLOSED
Closed as of 3/16/20 per West Ada School District’s decision to close all schools. Unit Director: Wendy Heidrich, wendy@adaclubs.org
DESERT SAGE CLUB: CLOSED
Closed as of 3/16/20 per West Ada School District’s decision to close all schools. Unit Director: Wendy Heidrich, wendy@adaclubs.org
KUNA CLUB: OPEN 7AM-6PM
Please remember to pack your child’s lunch if they will be attending the Club that day. Unit Director: Ben Gangwer, ben@adaclubs.org
March 15, 2020
All Ada County Boys & Girls Club sites will be open on Monday from 7am-6pm. Your child may come all week during those hours if they are enrolled in extended services. If you are enrolled in a general membership, your child may come to the Club from 11am-6pm with the option of signing up for early risers which will be available on the parent portal shortly for $6/day/child.
We ask parents to do their part to help us keep their kids and our staff and volunteers safe. Please keep your sick kids at home. We ask that only parents who truly need our services utilize them.
We are not currently accepting new members at this time.
We will keep all parents updated with more information as it comes in. Thank you.
March 13, 2020
Our commitment to keeping kids safe is always our number one priority. In order to be proactive in reducing the spread of a Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak locally, we have increased the frequency of our regular daily cleanings, and are using EPA-approved disinfectants. We are also encouraging our Club members, staff members, and families to be especially mindful of personal hygiene.
Please know that our commitment to you and your children is unwavering. However, we need your help and cooperation to keep your kids and our staff and volunteers safe. We ask that all parents keep their sick kids at home. The CDC also recommends that everyone:
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
- Wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
As new information becomes available and the impact of Covid-19 on our immediate community develops, we will continue to communicate with you about what steps we are taking to ensure safety. By working together we will get through this! Thank you.