Boys & Girls Clubs Help Children Turn Their Lives Around

DENVER (CBS4) - Boys & Girls Clubs serve about 3-thousand kids a day, most of whom need the clubs for one reason or another. Yasmin, 14, values the Boys & Girls Club as a quiet place she can focus on her homework.

"I went from having the lowest grades, like almost F's on every grade to at least passing grades, and now good grades," Yasmin told CBS4.

She's proud of the progress she's made and rightly so. A friend brought her to the club at a time when she needed some support.

"When I started coming here, it was probably a couple of months after my Dad passed away and really all I wanted to do was be in trouble," Yasmin explained.

She said she got in a lot of trouble, until the club helped her get focused and sort out her priorities.

"They showed me love and affection and they showed me they cared for me," Yasmin said.

LINK: Together 4 Colorado Toy Drive

It was that kindness that turned her life around. Now Yasmin finds new outlets for her grief.

"All my emotion or attention goes on to the paper, and I never thought I would be able to do that," Yasmin said.

Yasmin's only Christmas wish is for her own art room, but it's one she doubts will come true.

"It's loving, but it's not as big as other families because we have trouble with money and stuff like that. But it's good at the same time because we're always together," she said.

With her family and her family at the club, Yasmin is looking to the future.

"I just want to graduate and focus on what I love."

You can show a child you care by donating a new, unwrapped toy to the Together 4 Colorado Toy Drive. CBS4 is holding its annual Collection Day on Friday, Dec. 15. CBS4 anchors and reporters will be out at the King Soopers at Yale and Colorado from 4:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.