“The Club has impacted my life in many ways. Simply helping me with homework or giving me awards for being part of the Club and things like that. It really has impacted my life by giving me education choices. If it wasn’t for the Club, I wouldn’t be going to La Salle, which is a private school.”

Leslie chose to be featured in Chef Vanessa’s office because she spends a lot of time helping in the kitchen.

LESLIE

14 years old
Wattles Boys & Girls Club
Member since 2nd grade
Future forensic investigator

Why do you like coming to the Club?

I like coming to the Club because it’s like I have a second family. I’ve met a lot of people. I just like it here. I find the programs fun and really engaging. They find a way to bring the community together and I like that.

In what ways does the Club bring the community together?

Like they’ll have back to school bash and basically before school starts they give away backpacks, school supplies and even clothes. You don’t have to be a part of the Club to go to that. They let anyone in Portland come. That’s really nice of them.

There’s also lots of fieldtrips where you’re going with other Clubs also so you get to meet them. And that’s nice because they’re also club kids so they know what it’s like.

How has the Club impacted you?

The Club has impacted my life in many ways. Simply helping me with homework or giving me awards for being part of the Club and things like that. It really has impacted my life by giving me education choices. If it wasn’t for the Club, I wouldn’t be going to La Salle, which is a private school. If I didn’t go to the Club, I wouldn’t have had the chance to get the scholarship. And that really helped me out in my future.

What do you want to be when you get older?

An investigative reporter.

How did you decide on that?

Well, besides a few shows (laughs). People here at the Boys & Girls Club encourage me to work hard and do my best. And when I tell them I want to be a forensic investigator, they encourage me even more and tell me that it’s a cool job and say things like “I be you’ll be good at that.”

Other special opportunities have you had other than your La Salle scholarship?

In fifth grade I got to meet a contestant from American Idol at the Wine & Cheese event. We got to sing with that person and it was really fun.

Why is club important to you and the Lents community?

It’s important to have Boys & Girls Clubs in communities because it brings kids together. People get to meet each other and that’s always a good thing. Just having connections with people.

Has the Club helped you overcome any challenges?

Yeah. I wasn’t a big fan of school. And they really helped me throughout that by doing homework or simply helping me with school stuff. I’m not a lover of school today, but I enjoy it now. They helped me be able to cope with school.

Describe the Club in one word.

Amazing. Just amazing.

What do you want people to know about the Club?

You create family here. Not just with the kids but with the staff too. I have a lot of friends here and it feels good to have friends outside of school. You also get to know people from different schools which is interesting.

Anything you want to add?

It’s very diverse and that’s what makes it fun. We get to share cultures through food and music. There’s a program the staff Matt runs. He brings in instruments from India, New Zealand, Australia and he shows us how to play them. It’s really cool.

Also the food here is really great. The chef is amazing.

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