Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia held its annual Local Torch Club Conference on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at the Bridesburg Boys & Girls Club. Torch Club is a leadership program for members between the ages of 11 and 13 that encourages participation in community service, both in their community and their Clubs. Although Torch Club is a national Boys & Girls Clubs of America program, only BGCP holds a local Torch Club Conference for their members each year.
This year’s Local Torch Club Conference’s theme was Military Pride. Kicking off the conference this year was Michael Murphy, a father of a Bridesburg member, and a soldier in the US Army. Mr. Murphy had been in Iraq and spoke to the Torch Clubs about the importance of care packages from back home. Renewed with a sense of mission, the participants of the conference broke up into four groups and rotated activities throughout the morning. These activities included baking gingerbread cookies, decorating the cookies, making an American flag out of felt hands, painting ceramics, and making a scrapbook of the Conference. The cookies, American flag, and scrapbook will be sent overseas to soldiers fighting in Iraq. After lunch, the participants had a scavenger hunt and ended the conference playing a trivia game.
The Local Torch Club conference allowed members of each Club to interact and bond with others. The conference also highlighted the importance of community service for members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia. The Clubs are always looking for ways to help others.
