Boys & Girls Clubs Announce Gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

TACOMA, Wash. -- The Boys & Girls Clubs of Pierce County was recently notified of a $750,000 gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The gift is a significant addition to the recently launched Campaign for Kids, a $5.9 million fundraising initiative the Clubs are conducting.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gift will support the development of computer learning centers in all of the branch Clubs. Four of the clubs are located in Tacoma and one is in Lakewood.

A major component of the Campaign for Kids, which is co-chaired by Margel and J. James Gallagher, is to make computers available for kids who do not have access to technology. Funding from the campaign will bring the world of technology to the doorstep of the thousands of children in Pierce County. Many members of the Boys & Girls Clubs do not have computers at home and have only limited access in their neighborhood schools.

The Boys & Girls Clubs' goal is to help kids develop the lifelong skills necessary to be productive citizens in an information-driven global society.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gift will be formally announced at the Campaign for Kids Breakfast on Wednesday, June 7, at the Sheraton Tacoma Hotel.