MASHPEE – The Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod has continued to provide services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with changes in place.
Currently the club is in week six of a limited summer day camp.
The camp is able to take up to 45 kids which they have split up into five pods consisting of nine kids per pod.
Each pod of nine kids has two staff members who are with them permanently.
The kids are not allowed to mingle inside or outside the club, they are required to wear masks, and they must maintain six feet of social distance while inside the facility.
“It’s been really interesting because we were really concerned about the social distancing and the masks and how well the kids were going to react to that,” said Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod Executive Director Ruth Provost.
“It turns out that they adapted to it very easily, in fact after the first week I think it just became routine and the kids are having a blast.”
Provost said that in the past the club has run summer camps centered on field trips but due to pandemic restrictions, those camps are not permitted this year.
Staff members however have come up with alternatives.
“What my brilliant staff came up with is have the parents drop of at staggered times at the Mashpee pond and then the kids spend the day there with their staff and they eat their lunch and their snacks there and they do an activity and then the parents pick them up at the pond,” said Provost.
“So we got around the ability to provide at least two days of field trips per week for the kids at the club which has worked out beautifully.”
Staff members sanitize the playground at the pond and a certified lifeguard is on scene.
Staff members also keep the kids away from other groups of people.
The Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod will still hold their annual golf tournament this year at the Club at New Seabury, however it will be modified because of the pandemic.
The club is planning on staggered tee times, with food served course-side and at the clubhouse right off the grill.
Provost said she is hopeful the club will be able to hold some sort of event in the fall similar to the virtual gala they held earlier this year.
The Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod’s summer day camp runs through Friday, August 28.
The club still has room for kids who are interested in joining.
“We do have some space available if some parents are going back to work and are looking for something for their kids to do while they are at work for the rest of the summer,” Provost said.
For more information on the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod, click here.
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