Boys and Girls Clubs launches statewide health program in Bay City

Boys and Girls Clubs launches statewide health program in Bay City

When 3-year-old Ella Garzell stepped off the big, blue bus in the parking lot of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region on Tuesday, she was ready for a few treats, like an apple and a plush toy. Ella was among a crowd of children gathered Tuesday, June 30, at the Boys and Girls Clubs' Bay City Unit office, 300 W. Lafayette Ave., to help launch a new statewide initiative bringing mobile medical personnel to 46 club locations around the state. Working in a mobile, bus-bound office, medical professionals with the "Healthy Michigan Today" program administered a few basic medical tests to the children. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Bay City, was on hand for the event. Though his visit to the Bay City unit was originally arranged so he could meet with club leaders, he praised the program and noted the importance of providing healthcare opportunities in places like Bay City. "There are pockets of populations that don't have immediate access to healthcare that we often over look because we don't think of these kinds of communities as having that kind of a population," he said. Kildee also took a moment to spend a little time congratulating Damaira Jones, a 2015 Bay City Central High School graduate who was named Youth of the Year by the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region. Jones was awarded the honor in March after spending many years at the Bay City club. She now works part-time with the organization, and hopes to move to Texas soon to be with her mother and study to become an ultrasound technician. Jones said she was pleased to meet the Congressman. "I think it was cool that he came down here to congratulate me," Jones said. "But I also think it's cool he's here for this healthcare thing, and also that he's interacting with the kids." Kildee remarked on Jones' longtime presence at the club, which she began attending when she was a young child. "It's a pretty good example of how this place sticks with you. For kids, obvious academic performance is important," Kildee said. "But what we're trying to do is not just raise workers ... we're trying to raise a whole child."