Boys & Girls Club programs threatened by Trump grant freeze serve thousands of families

By BIANCA V ZQUEZ TONESS Associated Press Teaching Writer EAST PROVIDENCE R I AP After driving through a downpour to take her son to day camp Darleen Reyes narrated camp administrators the rain would have kept her away but her son insisted on going As she marked her son s name present on a clipboard at the Boys Girls Club camp one day last week she laughed about braving a flash flood warning to get there Before kissing his mother goodbye Aiden Cazares explained to a reporter I wished to see my friends and not just sit at home Then he ran off to play Aiden s one of million children and teenagers around the country who have been attending after-school and summer activities at a Boys Girls Club the YMCA or a residents school for free thanks to federal taxpayers Congress set aside money for the programs to provide academic patronage enrichment and child care to mostly low-income families but President Donald Trump s administration in the past few days froze the funding Jillian Murphy leads children in math exercises during the East Providence Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp at Emma G Whiteknact Elementary School on Thursday July in Providence R I AP Photo Sophie Park The money for the st Century Public Learning Centers is among more than billion in federal development grants Trump s Republican administration has withheld saying it wants to ensure recipients programs align with the president s priorities After-school programs for the fall are in jeopardy In Rhode Island the state stepped in with funding to keep the summer programs running according to the Boys Girls Club of East Providence Other Boys Girls Clubs supported by the grants have revealed means to keep open their summer programs commented Sara Leutzinger vice president for communications for the Boys Girls Club of America But there isn t the same hope for the after-school services for the fall Several of the Boys Girls Clubs nationwide that run st Century Locality Learning summer and after-school programs stand to close if the Trump administration doesn t release the money in the next three to five weeks Leutzinger reported The YMCA and Save the Children say a multitude of of the centers they run are also at jeopardy of shuttering Children raise their hands while participating in exercises during the East Providence Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp at Emma G Whiteknact Elementary School on Thursday July in Providence R I AP Photo Sophie Park Time is of the essence declared Christy Gleason executive director of Save the Children Action Infrastructure which provides after-school programs for schools in rural areas in Washington state and across the South where school will begin as soon as August It s not too late to make a decision so the kids who really need this still have it Schools in Republican-led areas are particularly affected by the freeze in federal learning grants Ninety-one of the school districts that receive the preponderance money from four frozen grant programs are in Republican congressional districts according to an analysis from New America a left-leaning think tank Of those top school districts half are in four states California West Virginia Florida and Georgia New America s analysis used funding levels revealed in in states Republican officers have been among the educators criticizing the grant freeze I deeply believe in fiscal responsibility which means evaluating the use of funds and seeking out efficiencies but also means being responsible releasing funds already approved by Congress and signed by President Trump commented Georgia schools superintendent Richard Woods an elected Republican In Georgia we re getting ready to start the school year so I call on federal funds to be distributed so we can ensure the success of our students The Office of Management and Budget disclosed several grants supported left-wing causes pointing to services for immigrants in the country illegally or LGBTQ inclusion efforts Summer clubs provide instruction for children At the East Providence summer camp Aiden a rising third grader played tag built structures with magnetic tiles played a fast-paced contest with the other kids to review addition and subtraction learned about pollination watched a nature video and ate club-provided chicken nuggets Veteran teachers from his school corrected him when he spoke without raising his hand and offered common-sense advice when a boy in his group explained something inappropriate Children hold hands while participating in engagements during the East Providence Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp at Emma G Whiteknact Elementary School on Thursday July in Providence R I AP Photo Sophie Park When someone says something inappropriate you don t repeat it instructor Kayla Creighton notified the boys between answering their questions about horseflies and honeybees Indeed it s hard to find a more middle-of-the road organization in this country than the Boys Girls Club Just last month a Republican and a Democrat sponsored a resolution in the U S House celebrating the -year-old organization as a beacon of hope and opportunity The Defense Department awarded the club million in to promotion children left behind when their parents deployed for the Persian Gulf And ever since the Boys Girls Club has created clubs on military installations to encouragement the children of utility members Military families can sign up their kids for free I suspect they will realize that majority of those grants are fine and will release them declared Mike Petrilli president of the Thomas B Fordham Institute a conservative tuition plan think tank speaking of the Trump administration s review of the st Century Society Learning Center grants But not everyone is so sure Families see meager affordable child care alternatives Aiden s mother has started looking into afternoon child care for September when kids return to school in Rhode Island It costs a week Reyes announced her eyes expanding I can t afford that Related Articles Wall Street points lower after Trump s weekend tariff announcement bank earnings this week Suspect kills women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper police say US manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies from Biden and protection from Trump At present in History July the storming of the Bastille Drones are key to winning wars now The U S makes hardly any The single mother and state worker explained she ll perhaps ask her -year-old son to stay home and watch Aiden That will mean he would have to forgo getting a job when he turns in the fall and couldn t play basketball and football I don t have any other option she stated At home Aiden would likely stay inside on a screen That would be heartbreaking since he s thrived getting tutoring and learning about healthy boundaries from the Boys Girls Club operation Reyes stated Fernande Berard learned about the funding freeze and doable closure from a reporter after dropping off her three young boys for summer camp I would be really devastated if this goes away reported the nurse I honestly don t know what I would do Her husband drives an Uber much of the day and picking up the kids early would eat into his earnings It s money they need to pay the mortgage and everything else If her boss approves she d likely have to pick up her children from school and take them to the rehabilitation center where she oversees a company of nurses The children would have to stay until her work day ends It s hard to imagine she disclosed The Associated Press tuition coverage receives financial help from multiple private foundations The AP is solely responsible for all content Find the AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP org