ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Boys and Girls Club of Rochester received a donation on Thursday that will help many kids and their families who go there.

Almost 800 pounds of food, along with a $10,000 check, were given to the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester from IDEX Corporation to help improve the lives of many children.

Tamyah Simon knows how donations like these can be life-changing.

“At a time my family had problems, problems paying for rent. Mr. Mahoney, he funded a couple of kids to get their rent paid for and somebody donated that for that reason,” Simon said.

She came to the club when she was 10. Now she works there. She tells News10NBC it’s to give back to a program that continues to give to her.

“The Boys and Girls Club also gives us a $1,000 scholarship at the end of each summer to go back to school,” Simon said.

Dwayne Mahoney, executive director of the club, says he’s extremely grateful to IDEX for this donation.

“They could easily, you know, put that donation somewhere else, but they know the importance,” Mahoney said.

Mahoney says he plans to use the money to improve the programs the club offers. He tells News10NBC how important he thinks STEM learning is early on and wants to buy new equipment and tools to help kids learn about it.

“Kids are not getting into real science-based activities until middle school, where we want it to start in third grade. And then by the time they get to middle school they have an appreciation for environmental sciences and other kinds of sciences,” Mahoney said.

It’s not just the kids benefiting from the donation; their parents will too. Mahoney says he’s going to contact all families and let them know food is available if they need it.

“Whenever we have opportunities to give out food … that’s something that we feel like we have to do now,” Mahoney said.

Thanks to donations like these, kids attending the club now may one day feel the same way as Simon.

“I just thank them every day that I can be the adult that I am today. Thanks to them,” Simon said.

Every donation that comes to the Boys and Girls Club is put to good use, whether it’s food clothes or money. The club is always accepting donations from the community.

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