in these hands - Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston

“What we do is not extraordinary. We just try to
set an example and hope others will follow.”
– ray Monkiewicz
president and chief executive officer, Kayem foods, inc.
Member, Jordan boys & girls club advisory board
Member, boys & girls clubs of boston board of Directors
read ray’s story on the next page
“
boys & girls clubs of boston 2008 annual report page 9
My grandfather came from poland in 1909 with $10 in
his pocket, hoping for a better life. He joined his brothers
who were already here, and who gave him a job in their meat
market in chelsea. My father and his brothers later worked
in the business, which is still owned by the family today.
My grandmother got to know the regular customers, and
sometimes she’d notice that someone hadn’t been in to
shop that week. she understood that they were embarrassed
because they didn’t have the money to pay their tab. she
used to fill a wagon with food and take it to these families.
i grew up seeing my grandparents give back to the community.
i learned that if you’ve been fortunate enough to have some
success, you give to others.
it must have been 12 or 14 years ago that i received a call
from Josh Kraft, asking if we would donate hot dogs for
the club’s annual fourth of July barbeque. We’ve been
involved ever since. chelsea is a wonderful community,
and the Jordan club is our favorite charity here. We look
for new ways that we can contribute to make things better
for the kids and their families.
over the past few years, we’ve been bringing “the Holy grill”
to events at the yawkey club of roxbury and have provided
a barbeque every friday for campers at camp Harbor View.
those kids come from all over the city. i recently met a 14-yearold
boy who was so excited because it was the furthest he had
ever traveled from his home, even though it was just two miles
away. the boys & girls clubs gives these kids experiences that
are more meaningful and important than we can ever imagine.
on good days, my grandmother would take 25¢ out of the cash
register and put it aside. on days when they didn’t do so well,
she’d take as little as 2¢. but she did this every day until she
had saved enough money to buy a truck to make deliveries and
grow their business even more. this really made an impression
on me as a kid, and i see that the contributions we each make
are adding up to something big in chelsea and across the city.
”
52%
of alumni say that
partiCipating in the Club
“saved my life.”
in 2007-08, bgcb increaseD its MeMbersHip
by 35%; still tHere are nearly 20,000
youtH WHo lacK after-scHool prograMs
in our serVice area.
– source: bain & coMpany 2007