This summer, children everywhere will take part in summer camps and other recreational programs. For many in Los Alamitos, CA, these opportunities would not be possible without the support of The Youth Center, a nonprofit that delivers engaging youth programs and one that uses Symantec software to ensure all information is secure and protected from cyber threats.
Above: Youth Center counselors and campers celebrate a dodge ball win
As the saying goes, “It takes a village.” For The Youth Center, this “village” includes 3 full time employees, 45 part-time employees and more than 500 volunteers who work together as a team to transform children's lives one family at a time through collaborative social, educational and recreational programs.
This summer, The Youth Center is offering action-packed camps for many families that would otherwise struggle to find a fun, safe environment for their kids to enjoy the summer. The days are filled with puppy parties, karaoke, talent shows, contests and field trips, keeping kids on the go, with affordable camp tuition and scholarships available.
Engaging, entertaining, educating and exercising are just what The Youth Center does—year round. In fact, since the nonprofit opened it’s doors in 1952, The Youth Center has served more than 100,000 local Los Alamitos families—offering numerous programs beyond camp such as after school care, music lessons and leadership academies, as well as a powerful program called Every 15 Minutes, that highlights the dangers of drunk driving.
Above: With affordable tuition and a scholarship program, The Youth Center provides a fun, safe environment for kids across Los Alamitos.
For The Youth Center, the village extends beyond their employees and volunteers to a network of collaborators that include school districts, police and sheriff departments, medical centers, city officials, music studios and more, all offering their support and services in various ways. At the same time, the nonprofit has no IT professionals on their staff, and therefore relies on qualified volunteers, as well as Norton Small Business from Symantec, to protect their networks and safeguard sensitive information such rosters, contact information, and photos, against viruses, spyware, malware and other online threats.
After experiencing the results of a bad virus attack a few years ago, The Youth Center knew they needed help. As a small nonprofit it was hard to afford the time spent and financial resources that went into dealing with the virus. According to Julie Rubin, The Youth Center Office Manager, “Suffering through the process of virus recovery was difficult and time-consuming. I cannot tell you how much we appreciate having the Norton license. For us, as a smaller non-profit serving thousands in the community every year, every dime we can save goes ten-fold into programs for the kids. You not only protect our systems, but you directly help us save money that we can put towards our youth programs. Norton gives us peace of mind and saves us every day and we thank everyone at Norton for making such a wonderful product.”
Norton gives The Youth Center confidence that their systems are safe, enabling the small nonprofit to focus its time and financial resources on fulfilling its mission: to transform children's lives one family at a time.