JetBlue and the JetBlue Foundation have been longtime partners with VBGCQ, their neighborhood Boys & Girls Club!

Over the years, volunteers from JetBlue have painted classrooms at the Astoria Clubhouse, donated free flight vouchers to raffle off during fundraising events, installed a brand new playground at the Astoria Clubhouse, and made multiple grants to support the Club’s STEM programs.

As part of JetBlue Foundation’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, JetBlue awarded grants to a bunch of organizations that support STEM and education programs for youth, focusing on populations that are historically underrepresented in STEM and aviation. Variety was excited to be awarded a $15,000 grant to support our Teen Center! This funding will support the Teen Center’s STEM and college and career readiness programming for over 100 teen members at the Club!

Read more here!

National burger chain, Bareburger, announced a new burger in partnership with Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens.

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“Partnering with the Boys and Girls Club in our hometown of Astoria, the neighborhood in which Bareburger was born, is a no-brainer. In our newest collaboration, Bareburger x VBGCQ brings you a custom-made burger that we have dubbed ‘The Variety Burger’. Bareburger Culinary Director, Chef Lemon created this vegetarian beauty. On a vrioche (vegan brioche) bun delicately smeared with garlic aioli, we have stacked a sweet potato patty, tempeh bacon, tomato, red onion, alfalfa sprouts and pickled jalapeños. A quick drizzle of sriracha honey dressing finishes this baby off. For each Variety Burger you buy (a worthwhile $13.95), we’ll donate a dollar to the VBGCQ.”

Read more here!

Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens alumni and actress talks about her time on the hit show Euphoria and growing as a model and actress over the years. Barbie grew up coming to Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens. She began doing theater at the Club at age 7 and by age 10 she knew she wanted to be an actress. Everyone at Variety is so excited for Barbie’s continued success and we can’t wait to see what she does next!!

Read more about Barbie and her career here!

Queens Salah M. Hassanein, Founder and longtime Board Member of Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens passed away on Friday June 7th at age 98.

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“Salah M. Hassanein, the former president of Warner Bros. International Theaters who was a tireless philanthropist in Hollywood, died Friday at his home in Del Mar, California, his family announced. He was 98. He served for many years as a member of the board of the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens (renamed the Salah M. Hassanein Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens in his honor) and was board chairman and president of Variety International. He also was president and honorary chairman of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation and instrumental in creating the Will Rogers Institute on the grounds of Burke Rehabilitation Hospital after the closure of the Will Rogers Hospital in 1975. The Pioneers Assistance Fund's Salah Hassanein Medical Grant provides temporary financial aid for film industry members in need.”

Read more here

A profile on Renée Edwards, long time volunteer at the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens.

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“What with her degree and interest in youngsters, it was inevitable that Renée would opt for a career that kept her close to them. For 31 years, she has worked for the New York City Department of Education’s LYFE program, which provides child care for student parents. A para, she’s stationed at Long Island City High School. “I’m responsible for four infants whose ages are two months to 12 months,” she says, proudly calling up their photos on her smartphone and cooing. When she gets off from work, Renée starts her volunteer duties. She heads over to the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens in Long Island City, where she teaches sewing, knitting and crocheting a couple of times a week.”

Read more here!

On Saturday May 4th, Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens hosted our Second Annual 3V3 Basketball Tournament with Edward Jones as the Title Sponsor. The event raised more than $7,000 to support the after-school, summer camp, weekend workshops, and sports teams at the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens!

Thank you to all of the players and fans who came out to Queens on Saturday morning! And congratulations to the team from Edward Jones who took home first place in our double-elimination bracket!

VBGCQ and Titan Theatre Company are excited to announce a new, expanded partnership! Designed to address the growing need for affordable rehearsal and performance space in Queens, our original partnership has blossomed into a massive education and outreach initiative! “A partnership such as this, with an incredible organization like the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, isn’t only an opportunity to help and support the wonderful theatre community here in our home borough, but is also a way to provide even more arts education and outreach programming to the community that continues to support us and our work in such an amazing way” said Titan Artistic Director Lenny Banovez. We at the Club looking forward to providing more opportunities to our beloved Queens communities, starting with a Shakespeare performance for our after school kids on Wednesday, May 15th!

Michaels and Boys & Girls Clubs of America have teamed up to refresh art rooms at 10 lucky Boys & Girls Clubs across the country…and Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens was selected!

Through Michaels generosity we will be able to repaint, get all new furniture, and tons of new art supplies! With these upgrades, our kids and teens will be able to unleash their inner maker on their path to a great future! #MAKESpace19

We can’t wait to see the amazing art work our young artists can create in the new space!

Check out the pictures below for “before” images of the art room!

During the 2018-2019 school year VBGCQ partnered with multiple organizations to run STEM programming for over 500 youth across four after school sites!

Samsung’s DIY STEM program is running at the VBGCQ - Main Club location for the budding scientists and engineers in the middle school program.

BioBus is teaching the Tool Time program at all four locations educating youth about different scientific tools and taking “field trips” to the neighborhoods around each location to perform experiments!

Hofstra University’s Wise Guys and Gals program offers design thinking and engineering challenges to the middle schoolers at the VBGCQ - Main Club including building a functioning prosthesis and creating a website.

Thank you to our partners and our amazing STEM Specialists for helping our kids develop their science skills and learn to love STEM!

Sincerest thanks to Amazon employees for spending an afternoon mentoring our Club’s middle school children. From getting an inside look at the office and spending quality time with software engineers, advertisers and managers, our students were able to ask their wildest questions and receive expert advice on their future path.

Employees of CreditSights spent the afternoon in LEVEL 12’s Ultimate Bike Build Team Building Program all to surprise Club kids with brand new bikes! The students loved test driving their new wheels and zoomed around the office trying them out!

Thank you LEVEL 12 for the brand new bikes, helmets and safety locks!

On Friday, December 21st, the Club was thrilled to present our Annual Holiday Celebration in the Broccoli Theatre. Surrounded by an audience of friends and family members, students performed adaptations of Ugly Duckling, Where the Wild Things Are and their original play, Who Kidnapped Santa. The Media Club debuted their film, A Christmas Wish and the Dance Group revamped the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” incorporating ballet and dub step. In the back of theatre, the Cooking Club hosted a bake sale with cookies, brownies and cakes that received rave reviews by all! Lastly, the students participated in the Variety Idol Competition where each grade sang Christmas carols and the audience voted on the winner. This year, we are thrilled to share that the 5th Graders were the official winners of the competition! The show closed with remarks from Council Member Costa Constantinides and a giant bow from all the children.

After the performance, staff members handed out personalized gifts to over 150 children. Our sincerest thanks to Marshalls, ADP, Steve Madden & Microsoft employees who donated the gifts and to the group of ADP employees who volunteered their time wrapping gifts, making holiday cards with the students and playing a game of basketball.

The Club is proud of all we have been able to accomplish this year thanks to the support of our incredible community. We are wishing you all Happy Holidays and an amazing New Year!

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THANK YOU HOLIDAY SPONSORS!

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Many thanks to everyone who came out to root for their favorite team at our annual 3v3 Corporate Challenge! The event raised more than $8,500 for Club programs that serve over 4,000 children each year.

This year, over 10 teams competed for the championship with Heroes pulling through as the tournament winner and NY Mets as the 2nd runner-up! Thanks to Lime, Super Soccer Stars, Red Rabbit, Edward Jones, Chip NYC & NY Life for playing their all and assembling your best talent! The event included free cookies from ChipNYC, scooter and bike demos from Lime, and a silent auction with prizes generously donated by JetBlue and Aloft Hotels.

Special thanks to former Jets Fullback, Tony Richardson for playing in the tournament and to our event sponsors NY Mets Foundation, Pharmapacks, Super Soccer Stars, Lime and Phenom. The 3v3 was presented by the Young Professionals Council, a group of change makers dedicated to building bright futures for children in Queens.

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EVENT SPONSORS

A resounding thanks to the 20 volunteers from JPMorgan Chase & Company for supporting the academic achievement of our students and promoting STEM exposure! We appreciate the time, energy and effort you devoted to the Club.

During the service day, each student was paired with a volunteer to complete homework after which, the groups explored cooking, hydroponic planting, stop motion animation and the MaKey MaKey invention kit. Special thanks to Break A Difference, who made this incredible event possible!!

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The Club kicked off the school year with our 1st Annual Back to School Boutique! Thanks to Raymour & Flanigan, the Disney Store and Hilton Garden Inn, we transformed the Broccoli Theatre into a boutique featuring new backpacks, pencils, rulers, crayons, notebooks and so much more. With the support of our partners, students and their families were able to pick out supplies and stock up for the year ahead. We wish all of our participants and their families a happy and successful school year!

ADDITIONAL SUPPORTERS

We were thrilled to welcome Marshalls employees at the Club to spend an afternoon with our participants in the After School program! Volunteers kicked off their visit by helping our elementary students complete their homework in Power Hour, before heading to the gym for some fun and games.

Along with help of Coach CP, students taught volunteers Crazy Ball, a Club favorite, and everyone joined in to play - the game was filled with lots of cheering and even a few home-runs! At the end of the day, Marshalls presented the Club with a surprise grant for our Power Hour program. Many thanks to all the volunteers for generously donating their time and making it a very special Wednesday at the Club!

In celebration of Earth Day, a group of MLB employees devoted their time, energy and talent to revitalizing our Club! The Media Lab is now equipped with a branded sports desk and a full frame “Variety News” backdrop to air our very own newscasts. The playground planters are now in working order, filled with flowers and mulch! Thanks to MLB volunteers and family members for spending Earth Day at our Club.