Providing Curiosity Kits to Youth for the Summer Season

During Collaborate, First Advantage proudly presented nearly 250 “curiosity kits” to Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County in South Florida through a national initiative with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA).

This initiative was led by members of FA Cares, a First Advantage group dedicated to supporting volunteer efforts across the organization, with the goal of sparking curiosity, which is also a company value, and creativity in BGCA youth.

At the start of the conference, attendees were invited to assemble drawstring bags filled with items designed to inspire young minds. Each kit included supplies such as crayons, markers, watercolor paints, and pouches for organizing materials, along with a variety of snacks and other fun additions — everything needed to encourage imagination, exploration, and creative play.

Smiles filled the room as attendees eagerly took part in the volunteer activity. Before closing their bags, participants had the opportunity to write a kind, personalized note on a custom-designed card to include in the kits, so each recipient could receive a thoughtful and inspirational message.

Once completed, the kits were collected by the Boys & Girls Clubs team and later distributed to members across Broward County, bringing creativity, encouragement, and joy to the youth they serve.

Cameron Warrick, Director of Development & Corporate Relations at Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County, notes that the four core pillars of the organization are academic success, healthy habits, good character, and citizenship and workforce readiness. He believes the donation made by First Advantage directly supports these pillars and will help members live them out in their community.

“We want to make sure that all the youth that we serve, from ages 6-18, are encouraged to look deep within themselves and get curious about what they can become. We want to encourage their creativity in the world and make sure they’re aspiring to be great – because a great future starts here with us,” he says.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County currently have 18 locations and serve 10,000 members across the community. Evidence of the great futures being built can be found across their membership base.

In addition to providing philanthropic support through this volunteer activity, First Advantage oversees background screenings for Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County, helping keep trust and safety top of mind while the nonprofit sources potential workers and volunteers to support the clubs. At Collaborate, Rivers Odendahl, Director, Safety Operations at Boys & Girls Clubs of America, spoke about the value of the organization’s partnership with First Advantage.

“It’s our number one value as an organization – to have safe clubs and safe spaces where youth thrive, and we really value First Advantage for being a part of that first layer of protection,” Odendahl said. This aligns with First Advantage’s mission to build Trust in a changing world™ for all its community partners. Whether through philanthropy or product offerings, First Advantage is proud to support Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County and the broader Boys & Girls Clubs of America organization as they nurture the leaders of tomorrow. The curiosity kits are another example of the impact being made by the strong partnership between the organizations.

“The story behind these backpacks is that we’re looking to encourage growth within our young people,” Warrick said. “We want to encourage the belief that they can be whatever they want to be – and that starts with being curious about the world, being curious about what they are going to be when it becomes time to be a citizen of that world who has the potential to grow into the next leader of the next generation.”

First Advantage hopes that the kits will inspire and encourage BGCA club members to continue to explore and develop their unique gifts and talents. To learn more about First Advantage’s commitment to driving community impact, read the company’s latest Sustainability Report.