Community partners and dedicated staff members came together Wednesday afternoon to make sure the children of the Club were treated to an annual celebration that just keeps getting better year after year at the latest iteration of the Club’s Holiday Party.

The classrooms of the Boys and Girls Club location at Dunkirk’s School 4 were filled with holiday themed activities.

One room was an eating space with food provided by Duper’s catering and Cupcake Berry and a donation from Cattaraugus County Bank for food supplies. Another room was dedicated to STEAM activities and holiday movies with Chautauqua Striders. Holiday arts and crafts were managed by Boys and Girls Club staff members and representatives from DFT Communications.

Down the hall, more tasty snacks were available in the seasonal spirit as representatives from local Tim Hortons locations set up a holiday themed donut decorating station, just like they did a year ago.

From left to right: Boys and Girls Club members Mia, Sophie, and Katia open gifts during the annual Holiday Party at the Boys and Girls Club earlier this week.

And yes, even Santa made an appearance, with gifts for each of the nearly 100 children of the Club.

Community members and local organizations sponsored each child to make sure everyone had a gift to unwrap. Each child was also given a stuffed animal donated by PetSmart and a pair of socks from the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation.

Toy drives were also held at Maurice’s on Vineyard Drive in Dunkirk, Signals gas station on Route 20 in Irving, and Tuscany Market and Deli in Fredonia. The toy drives supplied gifts and program activities, including board games, art supplies, and independent play toys to be used by children at the Boys and Girls Club.

“At the end of the day, our goal is all the same: we want a healthy community. We want happy, engaged, and supported kids,” said Executive Director Jeannie Gallaway. “We want the best, and the only way that we’re going to get the best is by bringing out the best in everybody.”

Unique to this year’s celebration, TJ Maxx donated nearly 200 backpacks for children of the Club. The backpacks that were not claimed at the event will be used as needed to supply children throughout the year. The Club is also sharing the backpack donation with its neighbors in School 4, SHAW Educational Services.

“That’s some of the beauty of what I like doing with the Club. My visi

on for the Club is always to be a resource for the community, whether it be families or kids, or a whole agency. There’s not many youth-serving agencies in northern Chautauqua County. It’s not only my privilege, but it’s my duty to be a connector and be a resource for everybody,” Gallaway said. “When we get the opportunity from a large donation, it’s my responsibility to take what we need, and then pay it forward to other people who also need it.”

The Club even had a former employee, a part-time employee and several Board members stop by to be part of the event. Gallaway joked that the infrequent guests had achieved “celebrity status” with the children.

“I think that just goes to show the breadth of the relationships our kids have with our staff and how much these relationships mean to these kids. To have positive adults who genuinely care about them and want to help them succeed, it means so much to the kids when the adults come back,” Gallaway said. “It shows them that they matter and the relationships that were built weren’t just because the staff was doing their job, it was genuinely because they wanted to be there.”