To Whom It May Concern,

We, the undersigned, are writing to express our strong support for the Boys & Girls Club of Rancho Santa Margarita and to advocate for the continued availability of this program within our community. 

As active members of the community, many of us have utilized this invaluable program over the years - benefiting families who need a place for their children after school or during the summer. The Boys & Girls Club has exceed our expectations and has been a foundation to our community for years - supporting families in need and children with social, active, and educational opportunities outside of school in a safe and trusted environment. 

Not only do we seek continued use of the bell tower community center for the Boys & Girls Club, but also seek city council support to further make our community aware of the various program offerings. A program like this is invaluable in shaping the lives of our children and the many working family members within Rancho Santa Margarita.

As parents, we recognize how essential it is to provide our children with educational support but also experiences that nurture physical, emotional, and social development of our children. The Boys & Girls Club provides an extensive range of activities, including but not limited to 1/ tutoring and academic support, 2/ sports and recreational activities, 3/ introduction to STEM activities, 4/ special events and themed days, 5/ after school and summer programs, and, 6/ life skills and character building.

To ensure our community has continued availability of this program (or a similar program in town), we request more information is shared on the decision to not renew a partnership with the Boys & Girls Club in Rancho Santa Margarita. Agnostic of whether the city council agrees with our recommendation for The Boys & Girls Club, we request a similar program with similar offerings and cost is provided at the same location and made available to our community (with minimal downtime). 

We believe the city council does want to support our community, and seek clarity of the city councils stance on providing space for childhood programs in Rancho Santa Margarita at the bell towner community center - as an investment into the future of our youth, families, and entire community. If helpful, a few families have volunteered to assist in analyzing the space utilization, transit, non-community attendance, and cost concerns with a non-bias perspective - as anecdotes mentioned in news articles have shown to lack data - impacting the trust of the community in our city council to make a decision in the matter of the Boys & Girls Club (even discrediting the program due to an unintentional mistake in their selection of books).

Thank you for your time and consideration - we know our children will look back in the future and thank you for all the support you have provided their families. We also know the city council does want a program (preferably the Boys & Girls Club) present in the bell towner - would be silly to think someone would consider a small town museum over the need of a program to support our community and youth :).