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When Al-Muta first walked through the doors of Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties, he was just six years old.
Like so many youth, he came looking for a safe place to go outside of school. What he found was so much more.
The Club became a place where he built friendships, discovered new opportunities, received academic support, and found caring mentors who believed in his potential. Through the Keystone leadership program, Al-Muta developed the confidence to lead, traveled to a national conference, and began to imagine a future filled with possibility.
Then life took an unexpected turn.
During his junior year of high school, Al-Muta’s mother suffered a stroke. Overnight, he found himself balancing school and multiple jobs while caring for his family.
The Club didn’t step away during one of the most difficult times in his life. Instead, it stepped closer.
Staff members helped in providing him with groceries, meaningful employment, guidance, and unwavering encouragement. More importantly, they reminded him that he wasn’t facing life’s challenges alone.
When a community comes together around a young person, hope grows stronger than the obstacles. That's exactly what happened for Al-Muta. As Al-Muta shared during our Opening Doors Dinner this spring:
“When life became overwhelming, the Club didn’t step back and leave me; they stepped closer, and I had a sea of supporters. Supporters who became my family.”
Today, Al-Muta is a young professional, a husband, and a father of two.
Looking back on his journey, he summed up the impact of the Club in one powerful statement:
“When people say the Club changes lives, I’m standing here as proof that it does.”
Al-Muta’s story is remarkable, but it isn’t unique.
Every day, young people walk through our doors looking for a safe place to learn, grow, and belong. Some need help with homework. Others need a mentor who believes in them.
Some, like Al-Muta, find themselves navigating unexpected challenges that no child should have to face alone.
Because of generous supporters, we’re able to be there for them.
And with thoughtful planning today, you can help ensure we’ll be there for generations of young people to come.
National Make-A-Will Month serves as an important reminder to create or update your estate plans.
Having a will is one of the simplest ways to protect the people, possessions, and causes you care about most while ensuring your wishes are honored.
If you’re considering leaving a charitable gift, including Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties in your plans is a meaningful way to create opportunities for future generations of young people.
To make the process simple and accessible, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties has partnered with FreeWill to provide free, secure online estate planning tools. In about 20 minutes, you can create your will and designate beneficiaries for assets outside your will, including retirement accounts like an IRA or 401(k).
Whether or not you choose to include a charitable gift, creating an estate plan is an important step in protecting what matters most.
Every planned gift helps ensure that future Club members have access to the same opportunities that helped shape Al-Muta’s life: caring mentors, academic support, leadership experiences, and a community that stands beside them through life’s biggest challenges.
Al-Muta is now an adult with his own children. His story has come full-circle.
Today, he's building a life of his own because a community came together to support him when he needed it most. Now it's our turn to come together for the next generation of Club kids.
Because Sarasota and DeSoto Counties need Club kids. And Club kids need all of us. If you have already included a gift in your will, please fill out this quick form. We want to thank you.
