Recent Updates
Friday, April 3
Good Afternoon Boys & Girls Clubs of the Cedar Valley Supporter,
Due to the continuing threat of Covid-19 to the Cedar Valley, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Cedar Valley will be shutting down programming at Waterloo (515 Lime St), Teen & Educational Center (815 E. 4thSt), and Evansdale (3574 Lafayette Rd.) and will reopen on May 4th, 2020.
The board along with the Senior Staff have worked hard to try to find a solution to the many questions surrounding the disease and how we continue to operate. On Friday, April 3, the board voted to close the doors to help mitigate the spreading of Covid-19.
Board President, Chris Holahan, would like to share, “It is with a heavy heart, that we as a Board and Staff have made the very difficult decision to currently close the club. We are doing this in order to do our part to keep our members, our staff, and our Cedar Valley community as safe as we can during this very challenging and anxious time in our world. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this pandemic, and we can't wait until we can open our doors again to serve the youth of our community.”
As a donor and supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Cedar Valley, we know that you have invested in our members and our organization whether be it your time, talents, or treasures and we want you to know that we will continue to work hard to meet our mission...to inspire and enable, all young people, especially those who need us the most, to reach their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens.
We will do this through a few outlets:
1. Meal Delivery Program - We have partnered with the Waterloo Schools to continue to provide meals through a delivery program Monday-Friday.
2. Staff Training – For the next four weeks our staff will be training Monday-Friday 8am-5pm on all aspects of Boys & Girls Clubs, programming, youth development, and management. We are looking at this time as an opportunity to come out of this shut down prepared and stronger than ever.
3. Site Cleanliness – We will continue to implement CDC recommendations in relation to cleaning and hope that our sites have an increased cleanliness when members arrive back.
4. Virtual Club – Boys & Girls Clubs of America has put together best practices for implementing virtual club programming which we will be looking to utilize over the next few weeks.
5. Website Resources – we have prepared a list of resources for our members on our website www.cedarvalleyclubs.com/covid19 that will provide them with information regarding alternative youth serving agencies, food resources, and other Covid-19 related resources.
We will continue to work hard for our members and look forward to being able to reopen our doors. Here is a note from our CEO, James Lee III: "It is our hope that we can through staff training, virtual programming and meal delivery continue to serve our members during this pandemic. With the closing of our in person programming it is our hope that we can emerge from this pandemic a stronger organization. We remain committed to do Whatever It Takes and stay Cedar Valley Strong.”
Thank you for your continued support now and always! It is not without YOU that we can do what we do everyday.
Monday, March 30
Our Lime Street location is opening back up today. Please check out our cover photo for locations, times, and a phone number if you are in need of all day school aged child care during this time.
Please note, we are watching the guidelines put forth by the CDC and government officials very closely and have implemented daily cleaning regiments along with other new policies that fall in line with these recommendations.
#whateverittakes #cedarvalleystrong #iowastrong
All members previously attending Sacred Heart have been moved to 515 Lime Street starting Monday, March 30.
Call (319) 234-2839 for more information.
#whateverittakes #cedarvalleystrong
Monday, March 23
Good Morning Cedar Valley!
It is Monday and we are OPEN!
For the next few weeks we will be opening everyday at 8:30am and closing at 6pm.
We currently have three sites open:
1. Sacred Heart (Age 6-12 that do or would attend Lime Street, Lincoln, Cunningham sites) - 620 W 5th St, Waterloo
2. Evansdale (Age 6-12 that do or would attend Evansdale & Highland Site) - 3574 Lafayette Rd, Evansdale
3. Teen & Educational Center (Age 13-18) - 815 E. 4th St, Waterloo
**Please call (319) 234-2839 in order to place new members at the site they would normally attend
**If your child currently attends a site it is required that they continue to attend the site that they would normally attend unless denoted above - ie. Lime Street is going to Sacred Heart.
**Please note - Lime Street is closed until March 30th for previously schedule gym floor maintenance.
**We stand behind the recommended CDC guidelines and hope that each parent and member review these before entering the Club.
Membership Fee - $30/Year
We are working hard for our community and YOU! #bettertogether#whateverittakes
Friday, March 20
ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL -Please fill this out to assist the Cedar Valley in knowing what child care needs are while our community continues to respond to the emerging issue of Covid-19.
Thursday, March 19
Families & Community Members,
We wanted to share this note from Mediacom:
"We are also taking additional steps to help our customers and communities by putting into place the following policies and initiatives over the next 60 days.
We are proud to join dozens of other internet providers in signing onto the Keep Americans Connected Pledge recently issued by the Federal Communications Commission to help combat the spread of coronavirus.
Pausing Our Data Allowances: Many of our customers are now working and conducting school temporarily from home. While the vast majority of our customers do not come close to exceeding their data allowances, we are pausing our data allowances until May 15th so no customer will have to worry about overage charges related to unexpected increases in data usage.
Xtream WiFi Free For Everyone: Providing complimentary access to all Mediacom Xtream Wi-Fi Hotspots where they are available."
https://mediacomcable.com/xtream-hotspots/
Wednesday, March 18
Good Morning Cedar Valley,
We wanted to let you know that we are still open serving the youth of the Cedar Valley. We feel very fortunate that we have been able to keep our doors open for parents who are still able to work and/or their jobs are vital positions during this time.
We continue to hold to the seriousness of Covid-19, novel Coronavirus, and have added in many precautions and cleaning regiments to make sure that we can continue to keep our doors open.
We are currently operating out of the following sites:
1. Sacred Heart (Age 6-12 that do or would attend Lime Street, Lincoln, Cunningham sites) - 620 W 5th St, Waterloo
2. Evansdale (Age 6-12 that do or would attend Evansdale & Highland Site) - 3574 Lafayette Rd, Evansdale
3. Teen & Educational Center (Age 13-18) - 815 E. 4th St, Waterloo
**Please call (319) 234-2839 in order to place new members at the site they would normally attend
**If your child currently attends a site it is required that they continue to attend the site that they would normally attend unless denoted above - ie. Lime Street is going to Sacred Heart.
Our hours are 8:30am-6pm
Membership Fee - $30/Year
We will continue this on as long as we are allowed and as long as the schools are closed. Next week we will open up our Lime Street location to allow for more space.
We want people to know that our first suggestion is they follow the recommendations put forth by the CDC and the Government and stay home if possible, BUT our goal is to stay open for those who are still able to work and are necessary in their work positions at this time.
Tuesday, March 17
Thank you Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley for your support during this time!
As we continue to keep our doors open to serve children of parents who are still reporting to work, please consider volunteering with our organization over the next few weeks and/or as long as we can stay open.
We are taking the Covid-19, novel Coronavirus, very seriously and recommend any person that wants to volunteer to check the CDC recommendations for age limits and health status.
Thank you!
Good Morning Cedar Valley,
As we embark on our second day of spring break programming and our second work day during Covid-19 Pandemic, there are a few things we want to share:
1. Please make sure that if your children are showing flu like symptoms you follow the recommendations put forth by the CDC and self-quarantine. Our goal is to keep the clubs sanitized and safe.
2. We ARE open at three sites this week:
1. Sacred Heart (Age 6-12) - 620 W 5th St, Waterloo
2. Evansdale (Age 6-12) - 3574 Lafayette Rd, Evansdale
3. Teen & Educational Center (Age 13-18) - 815 E. 4th St, Waterloo
3. Our hours are 8:30am-6pm
4. While we are stocked in cleaning supplies, if you have hand sanitizer you want your child to bring with them for personal use please send it with them to use.
5. In the middle of a pandemic we are very thankful that we are still able to stay open. We are here for you and your children. Please make sure to take number one seriously so we can continue to stay open and fulfill number 2 and 3.
THANK YOU members, parents, and the community. We are working our hardest right to be able to stay open and your support has been amazing! Yesterday we had cleaning supply donations and new volunteer inquiries and we were floored. You are what make our community great.
We are ready for Spring Break Day #2!
Monday, March 16
Covid-19 Update:
In light of the recent closings of the Waterloo Schools until Monday, April 13th we are releasing the following:
Our administration has been in close communication with the Waterloo Schools, Black Hawk County Health Department, and other youth serving agencies over the past few days. We are working closely with all of these groups to make sure that our communities health is taken seriously while still protecting and serving our youth.
It has been a group collaboration to recommend that BGCCV continue to stay open to provide a safe, clean place for Cedar Valley youth to be under adult supervision. We will keep you updated with any changes that occur, but as for now we will continue to stay open at the following sites:
Sacred Heart (Age 6-12) - 620 W 5th St, Waterloo
Evansdale (Age 6-12) - 3574 Layfayette Rd, Evansdale
Teen & Educational Center (Age 13-18) - 815 E 4th St, Waterloo
*Lime Street is closed due to previously scheduled gymnasium floor cleaning
Hours of Operation: 8:30am-6pm
As we continue to serve the Cedar Valley youth we want you to know that we have added additional soap dispensers and increased site cleanings in order to protect our children. We are taking this very seriously and see this as the time for our non-profit to show a very serious purpose of ours which is to provide services during times of turbulence.
**Please note, if you are a parent of a member and you or your child has flu like symptoms or signs of a virus please follow recommendations by the CDC:
SYMPTOMS: https://www.cdc.gov/…/2019-n…/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
PREVENTION: https://www.cdc.gov/coron…/2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html
Thank you for your continued support, please check back for updates.
Sunday, March 15
Community Members, Supporters, and Friends,
While we are in the midst of an incredibly turbulent time in our world, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Cedar Valley is committed to providing a safe place for the 1,000+ Cedar Valley youth that we serve.
We are monitoring the Covid-19, or novel Coronavirus, Pandemic closely and will be a part of the conversation with Waterloo Schools and other local youth serving agencies in the morning (Monday, March 16)
It is becoming more and more obvious that it is now more than every our youth need the supportive services of the Clubs to provide them essential meals, support and assurance and we are trying our hardest to stay dedicated to this mission.
At this time we are planning to open three sites this week (Sacred Heart, Evansdale, and Teen & Educational Center), tomorrow our staff will be working diligently to clean and sanitize these three sites throughout the day. Our staff will also be working with our members to make sure they are making educated sanitary choices.
Parents, if your child is not feeling well or is running a fever of any grade we ask that you follow official recommendations to keep your children home and away from contact with the public.
We will continue to update you on our ability to serve our youth as we work through this pandemic.
Thank you for your continued support as we are here for the kids #whateverittakes
Friday, March 13
A message from our CEO:
As of now, Cedar Falls and Waterloo Community School Districts are planning to remain open after spring break. If, by chance, they make a decision to close the schools, Boys & Girls Clubs may open during the day to provide our youth with a place to come while families are able to work. There is a possibility we may centralize our operations to a few locations or open as many as we can. This is an ever-changing process, and we will keep our Club community informed. Our main goal is to ensure that we keep our kids, staff, and community safe.
Thank you,
James E. Lee III, CEO