Boys & Girls Clubs, Best Buy partner for high-tech experience

Best Buy in Winter Garden Village is teaming up with the Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida West Orange Branch for a day of games, science and technology on Friday, Sept. 28.

The Tech Day will expose West Orange Boys & Girls Clubs members to some of the latest games and technology Best Buy has to offer. The event will take place from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Orange County Orlando Magic Recreation Center, 309 S. West Crown Point Road, Winter Garden.

Best Buy volunteers will set up one of the rooms in the center with TVs, video-game systems and other gadgets for the children to enjoy, said Nicco Palmero, service director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida West Orange Branch. 

“The kids will be able to come in and go through each section and basically experience every single thing they (Best Buy) have to offer,” Palmero said. “What I’m hoping for (this event) is to inspire (the children) to get into the electronic field or coding or anything like that … and maybe figure out a career in that aspect.”

Tech Day also will be a fun way to introduce the children to the technology they might not have access to at home.

“My philosophy (is) giving opportunities to kids that they may not have been able to have,” Palmero said.  

Alyssa Mcgaha, front-end leader for Best Buy in Winter Garden Village at Fowler Groves, proposed the idea for the Tech Day as a way for the local store to give back to the community.

“We are just very excited to be part of the community effort to give back,” Mcgaha said. “We’ve been constantly looking to find ways we can give back in general, but specifically to the Winter Garden community, because a lot of us live here. … When we reached out to the Boys & Girls Club, it just came naturally.”

Mcgaha said Best Buy will be bringing out some TVs, Nintendo Switches with some games, a “Polaroid Section” for silly photos, a robotics section, a section featuring a new-release movie and more.

“We’re very excited about having (a robotics) section too, because we don’t want sections that are just plain entertainment,” Mcgaha said. “We want something educational (as well).”