It has been a challenging year as we all have experienced but with that we have tried to make the most of it! Our year began back in January 2020 with planning for our upcoming programs which included our normal routine of after school programs, rentals, MYC Kids Play, morning walking and prepping for our Annual St. Pat’s Fundraiser in March, along with our popular March Madness Tournament during the After School Program! We also were able to put together our new boxing ring, due to grant we received the year before. Things were going well until the second week of March, two weeks into the tournament, when we, like most of the community, state, and nation got shut down due to the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Like most people, we thought that this was only going to last a week or two and at that time could not believe that we would still be in such a precarious state as we now enter a new year. After the realization set in that the Youth Center would need to reinvent our role in the community, while we were not able to welcome people into our beautiful facility during this unique time, we decided we still wanted to help out where we could and stay involved, so we got moving!
Although we were not able to welcome our youth and families into the building, we tried to adapt to the current situation to live up to our mission and vision, virtually, remotely, and in person as much as we could. Immediately, in collaboration with Milford TV and the Milford Board of Health, we started making mask kits for the community: 600 masks to the free breakfast and lunch program, 125 mask kits for the Seniors with Meals on Wheels; 25 mask kits for the Highway Dept; 88 mask kits for the employees of Town Hall; 23 mask kits for the Library; 20 mask kits for the First Unitarian Church Day Care; 10 mask kits for the Veteran’s Office; 50 mask kits for the Board of Health, 10 mask kits for the Food Pantry and numerous individual masks for a total of almost 1,000 masks.
Due to the generosity of Amazon, who weekly drops off car loads of their returned items, we have been able to deliver an estimated $20,000 worth of food, toiletries, and pet food donations to community organizations, who are distributing emergency needs, and weekly care packages for some of our senior volunteers. We have become the liaison between Amazon and the community to get these items to those who are most in need and vulnerable.
We have been hosting virtual programs on our social media/website and on Milford TV, with over 150 programs as of now to choose from online and do right from your home. We began delivering donated gifts from Amazon and the United Way of Tri-County and their “Project Toy Box” Campaign. Amazon items are used for Birthday deliveries and United Way gifts are delivered to youth in our program who are a part of our free or reduced lunch program. We delivered gifts to over 100 participants! We delivered these gifts with the help of the Milford Special Ops team and the Milford Highway Department.
In addition, we worked with teachers and our program youth to create messages of gratitude to our local medical staff at Milford Regional Medical Center, Senior population and to first responders. Finally, we worked alongside the Town and the Federal Census Bureau to spread the importance of completing the 2020 Census. We helped distribute printed materials with our mask kits along with Census water bottles and bags with gift deliveries. Although, we were not permitted to run a summer camp program we were allowed to finally open up in July for small rental groups and onsite programming, while also continuing virtual programs! We successfully ran three groups including arts & crafts, ultimate frisbee and martial arts! Over the summer months we also were able to complete some building projects, like completing the dance room floor, due to donated labor from Consilgi Construction and the AC work completed in the headhouse thanks to Town Meeting allocated funds!
As September came and the question remained on how and if the schools would open, we distributed over 180 backpacks to former after school members, due to the generosity of the United Way of Tri-County and other individual sponsors! After the school decided to operate in a hybrid model, the Youth Center worked with the Hockomock Area YMCA, the schools and Town to create an “Out of School Time” and Extended day collaboration to offer assistance to families in need of care on their remote learning days. The Center also began a Grab N Go dinner and snack program, offered to past and present members, as well as breakfast and lunch for our remote learning participants, providing the following number of meals to the community from September to now:
• Breakfast: 455
• Lunch: 1,067
• Snack: 1,483
• Dinner: 907
These food programs would not be possible without the collaboration of the Milford Public Schools Food Service Team and the Hockomock Area YMCA and funded by the USDA and CACFP!
After three months of the Center operating as a remote learning site and an extended day program, we are proud that we have been able to keep youth in small cohorts or age pods, maintaining safety as our main priority. Although a lot smaller than we are used to with our After School program, we have been able to continue similar programming, including arts & crafts, STEAM, gardening, nutrition and fitness programs, some supported by the Milford Regional Medical Center!
Without a steady revenue source due to closures and more safety guidelines, we have also had to find more innovative ways to fundraise this year. Milford TV put on a Telethon (with sponsorships from East Main Pizza, CrossFit Never Doubt, Tamagni Wealth Advisors & Ferrone Fit Project Nutrition) over the summer that helped raise $5,000 and a Giving Tuesday event which raised $1,250! We received three grants this year, one through the Greater Milford Community Health Network: CHNA 6 for $7,500.00 to support a fulltime AmeriCorps position, a $5,000 grant to support general operations from Foundation for MetroWest 25th Anniversary Grant and finally $500 from the 2020 Harvard Pilgrim Foundation Community Spirit Mini-Grant program. We had outside community members host fundraisers on our behalf like the Zombie Prom in February, Allison Curley & Family raising $700 through making and selling masks and CraftRoots Brewing creating a beer entitled “We Need You(th)” to support the Center! We have been so lucky to receive generous donations from local business and organizations as well, like $1,150 from the Giving Group, $1,000 from Milford Federal Bank, $1,000 from Benjamin Moore, $4,000 from Teacher’s Driving Academy and $5,000 from Alavi & Braza, P.C., along with over 100 other community donors amounting to $20,000 worth of donations! Recently, we were also awarded a NeighborhoodGood Donation of $25,000 from Amazon.com to allow us to continue work on a future music and multipurpose media Center! Finally, due to the help of CraftRoots and local elected officials, we were able to salvage the award session of our cancelled March Fundraiser, and acknowledge our 2020 Community and Individual Appreciation Awardees, The Milford Rotary Club and Ray Auger! We would also like to thank our Board and our numerous volunteers who we appreciate so much!
The final two months of the year we were able to host our first blood drive, with the help of Olivia Sabini-Leite and the Blood Donor Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, which has been a long-time dream of ours! We also were still able to salvage a little of the Thanksgiving spirit by providing donated meals to our youth from Genes and food from Amazon! We were also able to provide over 90 youth, at least three gifts each, this Holiday season due to the generosity of local business and organizations like the United Way of Tri-County,Waters Corporation, Amazon, Milford Dance Center, Goldfish Swim School – Milford and CYCLEBAR!
Finally, with the help of Cora, our therapy dog in training and Jen from Infinite Pawz-ibilities Dog Training & Behavior Modification who has been working with the Youth Center on this grant, we have been able to keep a smile on our face through the ups and downs! If this year has taught us anything it has reminded us more than ever that it is due to organizations, individuals, and businesses, like everyone who supported us during this difficult time, that we will be able to continue to offer free after school programming, an affordable summer camp, and provide a safe and fun environment for the youth of Milford in the future! We wish you all a very happy and safe New Year and thank you for your continued support!
