Summer 'Primetime' funding makes the season special for Erie County kids

$700,000 in funding powers 80 community providers to expand summer programming, provide positive youth development, academic support, more

Submitted by the Office of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz

The Erie County Department of Social Services’ Youth Bureau is helping to make summer safer, more active and more fun for thousands of local children by investing $700,000 in the 2026 summer “Primetime” program. “Operation Primetime” provides for an adult-supervised environment for the school summer recess period and helps local organizations offer summer program activities consisting of positive youth development, including academic support, mentoring, cultural enrichment, and structured activities that prevent delinquency, increase socialization, and foster respect for authority.

“ ‘Operation Primetime’ is an annual investment in Erie County youth and helps to make summers better for children through various supervised activities with peers. The program is also good for parents, particularly working parents, who want to know that their children are safe, supervised and staying busy during the summer break,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said. “Helping children have a healthy, active and supervised summer is a good investment all around.”

Eighty community providers from across Erie County contracted with the Department of Social Services to provide “Operation Primetime” programming, with awards ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 to fund that programming.

Organizations receiving $10,000 in “Primetime” funding include: Peace of the City; Bestself Behavioral Health Inc.; Boys & Girls Club of Buffalo Inc.; Buffalo Arts and Technology Center Inc.; Erie Regional Housing Development Corp.; Family Promise of Western New York; Northwest Buffalo Community Center Inc.; Police Athletic League of Buffalo Inc.; the Rural Outreach Center Inc.; the Salvation Army; University District Community Development Association Inc.; Back to Basics Outreach Ministries Inc.; Boys & Girls Club of the Northtowns of WNY Inc.; Buffalo Urban League Inc.; First Shiloh Youth Foundation; Karen Society of Buffalo; Polish Community Center of Buffalo Inc.; United Church Home; King Urban life Center Inc.; Native American Community Services of Erie and Niagara Counties Inc.; Full Circle Family Service Inc.; Buffalo-area Engineering Awareness for Minorities; Buffalo Vineyard; EPIC – Every Person Influences Children Inc.; Resource Council of WNY; Seneca Street Community Development Corp.; West Side Community Services; YWCA of Western New York Inc.; AWO; Massachusetts Avenue Project; Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora; Baker Hall Inc.; Mt. Olive MBC Inc.; Boys & Girls Club of Holland; the Collaborative Center for Social innovation Inc.; Cradle Beach Inc.; Lackawanna Yemen Soccer Club; G.I.R.L.S. Sports Foundation Inc.; T Corp Community Development Corp.; the Research Foundation for the State University of NY; TRE & Associates Inc.; Wave Buffalo Inc.; Great Falls Council Inc. Boy Scouts of America; Hope of Buffalo Inc. d/b/a/ Peaceprints of WNY; Toll to our Legacy’s & Legends Inc.; Westminster Economic Development Initiative Inc.; Be-A-Friend Program Inc., Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Erie, Niagara and the Southern Tier; Tru-Way Community Center Inc.; Boys & Girls Club of Orchard Park; Town of Cheektowaga; Bits and Bytes STEM Foundation; Buffalo Media Resources Inc.; Compeer West Inc.; Girl Scouts of WNY; HEAL International; Buffalo Prep Inc.; Community Action Organization of WNY; Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County; Boys & Girls Club of Eden Inc.; City Swim Project; Village of Hamburg; Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo Inc.

Organizations receiving $5,000 in “Primetime” funding include: Parker Academy Child Care and Learning Center Inc.; Boys & Girls Club of Elma, Marilla and Wales; Friends Inc.; Solid Foundation Prep Inc.; the Prevention Council of Erie County; Antioch Baptist Church; VOICE Buffalo; Town of West Seneca; Kids Escaping Drugs Inc.; Locust Street Neighborhood Art Classes Inc.; Enlightenment Bookstore & Café; Child Care Network of the Niagara Frontier Inc.; Urban Christian ministries; Springville Youth Inc.

Organizations receiving $2,500 in “Primetime” funding include: Rohingya Empowerment Community Inc.; Open Buffalo; Community Wellness Works Giving Inc.; Be Elite Inc.

The Youth Bureau distributed a request for proposal (RFP) to interested parties for this program, and the youth board panel recommendations were utilized to determine contract award amounts.

For more information on the Erie County Department of Social Services, visit https://www3.erie.gov/socialservices/.