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.”

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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!

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!