The Al Gilpin Youth Fund

The Al Gilpin Youth Fund provides vital services through the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pee Dee Area to address homeless youth and food insecurity. Read more about Dr. Gilpin's recognition here. Thanks to WPDE News 15!

Homeless Youth: The Florence Club has been a safe place for 50 youth for summer and afterschool programming beginning in 2023. This program is a concentrated effort to provide help to a population of kids that need us most but are often overlooked or forgotten. The program’s priorities will be the same as for all our youth - one that provides a comprehensive youth development program that delivers impact, including:

• Daily homework help,
• Weekly supplemental ELA & Math activities,
• Weekly STEM, character development, and fitness programming, and
• Enriching field studies on non-school days.

Food Insecurity: In South Carolina, one in eight children face food insecurity, and school lunch may be their best or only meal of the day. Hunger is a real issue for many youth in the our community, so, during the school year, we provide kids with a nutritious late afternoon lunch and during the summer months we provide both a breakfast and lunch. These meals are available at our six club sites and nine other program-partner sites throughout the Florence area. In addition to receiving meals, our kids also learn about nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

• During the school year, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pee Dee Area feeds 850 meals each day.
• In 2023, we served more than 160,000 meals to the kids that need us most.
• This summer, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pee Dee Area fed 1,700 meals each day.