Safety is always paramount when it comes to the children of Fountain Hills and Fort McDowell.

That’s why the Noon Kiwanis Club and Verne C. Johnson Family Foundation teamed up to provide a significant donation to the local McKee Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale.

They each donated $20,000 to the Fountain Hills facility for safety enhancements to the front lobby as well as the gymnasium.

The total of $40,000 will be used for lobby safety enhancements, water bottle filtration stations, game/snack room safety windows and improvements along with replacing gym bleachers and adding safety wall padding.

“This is a tremendous donation that will greatly benefit our facility and improve the overall safety of the students who use our building,” said branch manager Lauren Stratton. “We are certainly grateful for these generous donations.”

Ivan Gilreath, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, was on hand at the recent Noon Kiwanis meeting for the check presentation.

“We can’t thank the Fountain Hills community enough for its strong support of our facility and all the youths that we serve,” he said.

Noon Kiwanis Club President Jerrod Stearnes said this program was the club’s “signature project” for the year, as he has been emphasizing the need to pare down smaller donations and instead make a greater impact with one larger donation.

“The Kiwanis mission is to serve the children of the world, and we couldn’t think of a better recipient than the Boys & Girls Club,” Stearnes said. “This will go a long way toward making the branch a safer place for everyone.

“It’s our honor to make this significant donation.”

Dwight Johnson, president of the Verne C. Johnson Family Foundation, said that the foundation was started 25 years ago by his father with the goal of developing greater character in youths.

This results in more opportunities for youths to succeed and live lives of joy, peace and fulfillment.

“We strongly support the Boys and Girls Club, since their focus is on the development of youths and the foundation of family,” Johnson said. “We were pleased to be able to match the generous donation given by the Noon Kiwanis Club.”

Stratton said a contractor has already been lined up to start planning and installing many of the improvements.

“This will be an exciting time as we gear up for our summer programs and begin planning for the start of school once again in August,” she said. “Thank you again for all your generous donations.”