Boys & Girls Clubs, Ross Stores partner for homework support
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 8 months AGO
Boys and Girls Club members pay a visit to the Ross store in Moses Lake to do some crafts and show customers where their donations are going. Ross is collecting money for the clubs as part of its annual “Help Our Kids Thrive” campaign.
COURTESY PHOTO/BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN
Children from the Boys and Girls Club visit with a Ross clerk in Moses Lake.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | February 18, 2025 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin is getting an annual boost this month from a local retailer. Ross in Moses Lake is raising money for the children’s resource in a special event called “Help Local Kids Thrive.” This is the seventh year the store has supported the program in Moses Lake, according to BGCCB Resource Development Director Anastasia Carpenter.
“This program sponsors our Power Hour, academic support for our club members,” Carpenter said.
The fundraiser is part of a nationwide program Ross has held annually nationwide for 11 years, according to a statement from Ross Stores Group Senior Vice President Matt Young. Cashiers at the Moses Lake and Wenatchee stores will accept donations from customers, and the company will match up to $500,000. Eighty percent of that money goes to the local club, Carpenter said, and the rest to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
“People can leave $1, $2, $3, $5 donations … at the checkout,” Carpenter said. “Usually there are also some marketing materials at the store so when people come in, they can read about this campaign and their results (for) the Boys and Girls Club.”
The store provides the marketing materials, Carpenter said, and coordinates with the club. A few times during the month-long campaign, some children from the Boys and Girls Club will stop by to visit the store.
“We went to the local store and we did some arts and crafts, and kids had a chance to have a tour of the store, and they were able to announce the donations people (made) at the checkout,” Carpenter said. “That was an amazing experience.”
“Ross is proud of our long-standing partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs, and we are excited to host our 11th annual in-store fundraiser to ‘Help Local Kids Thrive,’” Young wrote in his statement. “Each year, Ross Stores, the Ross Stores Foundation, our Associates, and our generous Customers join forces to raise funds for Clubs nationwide and their Power Hour homework help program. Together, we are committed to providing kids in communities across the country with the academic support they need to achieve big goals.”
The Power Hour program, which offers structured homework help for club members after school, is one of the club’s oldest and most popular programs, Carpenter said. There are helpers at all the club’s sites at local schools, as well as the McGraw Clubhouse.
“We have our youth development professionals and a designated area in the clubs for the homework, so they can sit down and they provide them some help with math, for example, or other things they are struggling with. Or maybe sometimes kids just don't have this opportunity, or nobody can help them at home with their homework. We also have our behavior support specialist, so if kids are struggling or they can't focus, we help them with that too.”
The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin has more than 1,500 registered members, Carpenter said, and every day more than 600 students attend the school-based sites at Larson, North, Longview and Midway elementary schools.
“This program is incredibly important as we have seen club members face academic challenges in recent years, particularly after COVID, along with difficulties in social interaction,” Carpenter wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “This program aims to address these issues, enhance learning, and build essential skills for their future. We are deeply grateful to Ross for supporting these programs nationwide.”
Children from the Boys and Girls Club visit with a Ross clerk in Moses Lake.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”