BayPort Donates Backpacks and Books to Local Students within Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula

BayPort Credit Union today announced it has donated 500 backpacks to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula (BGCVP), which serves youth across the Virginia Peninsula and surrounding communities including Newport News, Hampton, York, Gloucester, and Mathews County.

In addition to the backpack donation, BayPort presented BGCVP a $1,000 Amazon gift card to help purchase new books for their “Power Hour” programming. The backpacks will be distributed to local youth who participate in Money Matters and Career Launch programming, as well as those who are enrolled in the organization’s Club Academy.

“We are so grateful for the continuous generosity that BayPort provides to our community’s greatest asset – our kids. These backpacks will ensure that our kids have all the tools to be academically successful. We look forward to utilizing the gift card for our Power Hour programming,” said BGCVP President/CEO Hal Smith.

For more than a decade, BayPort has partnered with BGCVP, supporting their annual fundraising through both corporate giving and staff volunteerism. More recently, in 2020, BayPort donated $25,000 to the nonprofit to help support their ongoing efforts in servicing the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, in 2020, BayPort staff helped lead a full makeover of their Mathews Club location, including a financial education center for students.

“BayPort believes all kids should have access to the resources and supplies they need to learn and succeed. Local partners like the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula continue to make tremendous impact in our communities through their educational programs and after-school outreach, and we are honored to help support their mission,” said BayPort President/CEO Jim Mears.

For the third year, BayPort is the only Virginia credit union to have won in all four award categories in the 2022 Social Responsibility Awards sponsored by the Virginia Credit Union League and the Credit Union National Association. BayPort is recognized for its free financial education outreach, robust Student-Run Credit Union programs in over 60 elementary, middle, and high schools across Hampton Roads, sustained charitable giving and scholarship tuition programs, and digital financial literacy services.

Pictured above from left to right: Hal Smith, President & CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula; Jim Mears, President & CEO of BayPort Credit Union; Susan Oglinsky, Chief Development Officer of Boys and Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula.

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