Helping young people become young women and men

Among the hundreds of community partners supported by your donation to Second Harvest is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana. This important organization helps shape the future of hundreds of local children, with a goal of keeping them on track graduate from high school with a plan for the future, demonstrating good character and citizenship, and living a healthy lifestyle.

Will Giannobile is the Director Boys & Girls Club in Gretna. “We serve just over 300 children a year, during the school year and across the summer,” he says. “All children are welcome in our youth enrichment programs, particularly those most at need.”

 Second Harvest provides healthy meals and snacks every weekday to the children in the program during the school year with our Kids Café program, and across the summer with our Summer Feeding program.

“The Club teaches the importance of academic success, good citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. The nutritious meals we receive from Second Harvest every day not only provides these students with a great meal or snack, it’s also a tool we can use to show them how to live a healthier lifestyle.”

Giannobile says the meals, provided at no charge, means his staff can also free up valuable time and money to be able to focus on other areas.

“Our partnership with Second Harvest lets us literally put our money where our mouth is. All of the areas of well-being we focus on are like a domino effect. Many of these kids wouldn’t otherwise go home well-fed, and the importance of teaching them what a balanced meal looks like is incredibly important in the long-term.”