As their moms, dads, grandmothers and grandfathers serve as nurses, doctors, food service workers and more during the coronavirus pandemic, local children at the Boys & Girls Clubs got a recent boost of activity from a Sequim retailer and community members.

Susan Baritelle, owner of Dungeness Kids Co., 163 W. Washington St., brought in about 400 activity books from her shop for the Sequim and Port Angeles clubs on April 1.

Baritelle connected with Sequim club employee Tessa Jackson about providing some activities for the children.

“(Jackson) said children must play individual activities (because of social distancing), and they’re running out of things to do,” she said.

Baritelle said she reached out to the community saying that for each $5 activity book purchased, she’d donate one, too. That resulted in more than $1,400 raised from community members with more coming in, Baritelle said.

Since the pandemic began impacting the area, Baritelle estimates her business revenue has been down about 45 percent.

“It has impacted me, but we’re getting lots of support and people reaching out, which is amazing,” she said.

Mary Budke, executive director of the Olympic Peninsula Boys & Girls Club, said each child has their own bags of activities and books so as not to share them to prevent any potential spread of the virus.

“It’s been so lovely to get the donations,” Budke said.

Baritelle plans to continue supporting the clubs as donations come in. Reach her at 360-582-1700 or at www.facebook.com/dungenesskids. Donations can also be made at www.paypal.me/dungenesskids.

Tessa Jackson with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula accepts a donation of about 400 activity books from Dungeness Kids Co. and community members last week. Children in the club must practice social distancing and must play apart, so activity books are meant to help the children during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo courtesy of Susan Baritelle

Clubs open up space for frontline workers

As coronavirus regulations remain, the Sequim and Port Angeles Boys & Girls Clubs remain open to no more than 40 children at each site.

Budke said they host as many as 20 children in Sequim and 14 in Port Angeles, with numbers varying each day. She said they recently made an agreement with the YMCA of Sequim that if the Sequim club sees more than 40 children they’ll expand offerings to the recreational facility.

Budke said they’ve also opened space to all essential workers’ children ages 5-and-a-half to 14.

“This is for people who really need to work,” she said. “Here it’s not play time. It’s supervised care for children while their parents go to work.”

This week, Sequim students began working on academics after their Spring Break while Port Angeles students entered their Spring Break this week. Both groups of students face the prospect of home studies for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year, after Gov. Jay Inslee on April 6 closed all state schools to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Families who work in Sequim or Port Angeles can arrange a reservation in those cities with the club following a phone screening. To make a reservation in Sequim, call at 360-683-8095; in Port Angeles, call 360-417-2831.

During a break, club members of the Sequim Boys & Girls Club try Google’s AR Animals like six-year-old Eryn Haubrick and this horse. Children at the Sequim club have family members serving in the community as first responders, medical workers and essential workers. Photo courtesy of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula

Activity and meals

Inside the clubs, children of ages 5-and-a-half to 14 are kept in cohorts of nine children with one staffer while maintaining social distancing of at least 6 feet, Budke said.

Xs and Os are marked throughout the clubs for spacing and touch points are cleaned every two hours. Temperatures are also taken of each child in the morning to check for symptoms of COVID-19.

The clubs continue to offer meals on weekdays from noon-1 p.m., including Mountain View Court Apartments, Elk Creek Apartments, and the Seabreeze Apartments in Sequim.

Budke said Port Angeles’ sites have provided up to 280 meals on average per week and Sequim about 170, with “Grab and Go” breakfasts and lunches available.

For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, 400 W. Fir St., Sequim, call 360-683-8095.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Activity books range from coloring to stickers to search-and-find that Susan Baritelle of Dungeness Kids Co. and community members donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs in Sequim and Port Angeles. Photo courtesy of Susan Baritelle

Children at the Port Angeles Boys & Girls Club practice social distancing during a lunch break. They continue being apart throughout the day to minimize the spreading of germs and potentially the coronavirus. Photo courtesy of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula