First Niagara Awards Grant to Boys & Girls Club for College Prep Program

First Niagara Foundation, a charity created by First Niagara Bank, will give money to the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester to start a college-prep program for its teen members.

“Giving young people access to caring adult mentors and role models is a proven way to help guide them to make positive life decisions and develop into healthy, productive adult members of our community,” said First Niagara Tri-State President, Cathie Schaffer in a press release. “This is why we have made mentoring a key focus area of our charitable giving program, and support organizations that provide quality mentoring programs in our markets.”

The grant will help the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester implement the College Quest program as part of its Mentoring Program for kids aged 6-18, officials there said.

The program involves about 160 members of the BGCNW. Most—7 out of 10—live in households near or below poverty level, which is set by the federal government at $20,000 a year for a family of four. Half are Hispanic, about 25 percent white, 11 percent Black and 8 percent Asian/bi-racial.

They live in Mount Kisco and go to Bedford Central schools.

Here’s how BGCNW grant writer Lydia Howie explains it:

The Mentoring Program takes place at the club’s main facility in Mt. Kisco and is supervised by Brian Skanes, Executive Director and directed by Barbara Cutri, Director of Operations, who recruits, trains and “mentors the mentors.” It is our goal to expand the program to serve as many as possible of our 110 members of our Fun Club in grades 4-7 (ages 9-12) and 50 Teen Center members in grades 8-12 (ages 13-18).

Since the goal of the Mentoring Program is to help youth do better in school and develop career aspirations, we have identified three Boys and Girls Clubs of America programs that we will implement with the help of mentors: Project Learn, SMART Leaders/SMART Moves and College Quest. Much of the mentor interaction revolves around assisting the mentees with their academic performance and strengthening their leadership skills.

COLLEGE QUEST benefits the underserved teen youth at the Club by helping participants achieve in high school, explore career options, develop career goals, prepare them for the college application process, and transition from school to career. Each participant is given an assessment at the beginning of the year to match their interests and strengths with the program components that will be most beneficial for them including: Academic Skills Development; College Prep Assistance; College Tours; College Search Service; Let’s Get Ready SAT Prep; Job Ready; Career Launch; Junior Staff; Goal 4 Graduation; Summer Leadership Career Launch Program; Money Matters; Computer Skills Training; Keystone Club; and Family Informational Meetings.

“Additionally, as mentioned above, we also utilize mentors in our financial literacy program, MONEY MATTERS,” said Howie. “We would welcome First Niagara Bank employees to act as mentors to the members participating in this program and/or to be guest financial speakers.”

The First Niagara Foundation’s grants totalled $50,000 to support seven youth mentoring programs in the Tri-State area, including four located in Rockland and Westchester Counties. The grants were made in conjunction with First Niagara’s contribution of $1 million to support non-profit youth mentoring programs and organizations across New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts through its Mentoring Matters℠ program.

The four Hudson Valley nonprofits receiving grants were Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rockland County to support the Veteran Enlightenment Time program; Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, Inc. for the College Quest program; Elmsford-based Project Morry, Inc. for its High School Youth Development and Mentoring Program; and YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester Inc. for GEMS (Girls Empowered through Meaningful Support) program.

PHOTO: Mentors help with homework at the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester/Courtesy BGCNW

Have a news tip? Email lanning.taliaferro@patch.com. You can also post your own news, events and announcements on Patch by following these directions. Curious about how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your neighbors on Patch.