October 18th, 2007
Children, Parents, Join Boys & Girls Club Of Imperial Beach Rally for After-school Childcare/ IB Mayor Presents proclamation Children, parents, business and community leaders joined The Boys & Girls Club of Imperial Beach in a Lights On Afterschool rally – one of 7,500 such events held across the nation on October 18, 2007. The events at The Main Club and each of its Licensed Childcare Programs located on local elementary school campuses emphasized the importance of keeping the lights on and the doors open for after-school programs. Tight budgets, rising housing prices are endangering after-school programs around the country, forcing many programs to cut back or possibly even closing their doors. Imperial Beach Mayor Jim Janney presented the Boys & Girls Club of I.B. with a City Proclamation at last week’s city council meeting, proclaiming October 18, 2007, as Lights on Afterschool! Day in Imperial Beach, and encouraged all citizens to join in recognizing and supporting the important role the Boys & Girls Club of Imperial Beach and their after school programs play in providing every child throughout the South Bay access to a safe, friendly place where the lights are on everyday after school. ‘Lights On Afterschool’ participants observed student art and science displays, joined in a game of pool, played bingo, made Halloween crafts and dug for dinosaur artifacts. Parents and community members saw firsthand the importance of after-school programs. The nationwide events marked the eighth annual ‘Lights On Afterschool!’, sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance. It is estimated millions of children in the United States are alone and unsupervised each afternoon after the school day ends as government funding has not kept up with demand. Click here for pictures.