Turning a Brain Drain into a Gain

One of the many clubs benefiting from Red Nose Day’s support is the Boys & Girls Club of Goshen.

Throughout the United States, Boys & Girls Clubs of America members are getting access to new learning opportunities thanks to support from Red Nose Day.

Children from low-income families often lack access to mental stimulation and learning opportunities during summer break. That too often means that children suffer from a “summer slide.” That’s the academic term for a really serious loss of learning, where kids leading tough lives often fall behind their peers.

Through Red Nose Day’s partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, we’re helping beat summer slide through the Summer Brain Gain program. The program serves members who would otherwise spend the day at home or roaming the neighborhood. It’s a safe place for members who are living in poverty to learn and grow throughout the months off between school years.

At the Boys & Girls Club of Goshen, Indiana, Red Nose Day helps fuel their Summer Brain Gain program for 180 to 245 members each day, including academic and recreational activities, as well as breakfast, lunch, and a snack.

This program has been particularly impactful for nine-year-old Joshua. Joshua struggles with school and impulsivity due to having ADHD. It’s often difficult for staff to motivate him to come to our Learning Center to complete school work, or to engage in intervention opportunities.

Josh attended Summer Brain Gain regularly, and though his behaviors still presented challenges at times, it was clear that he wanted to be in the learning center and did not want to miss out on any of the activities. Through this program, he was also able to form meaningful relationships with staff who once struggled with him. He even joined a homework help group with one of his newfound mentors.

Thanks to Red Nose Day’s support, Joshua continues to grow in his academic achievements, character, and leadership development. He is now setting goals for himself. Joshua wants to be an astronaut when he gets older, and he has identified that to become an astronaut he’d have to learn a lot about science, and that he’d need a lot of math skills too. When he talks about being an astronaut, Joshua says he really wants to find out if there was life on other planets. “I’d be famous for making these discoveries!” Joshua exclaimed.

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