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EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) 鈥� After driving through a downpour to take her son to day camp, Darleen Reyes told camp administrators the rain would have kept her away but her son insisted on going.

As she marked her son’s name present on a clipboard at the Boys and Girls Club camp, she laughed about braving a flash flood warning to get there.

Before kissing his mother goodbye, Aiden Cazares, 8, explained to a reporter, 鈥淚 wanted to see my friends and not just sit at home.鈥� Then he ran off to play.

Aiden鈥檚 one of 1.4 million children and teenagers around the country who have been attending after-school and summer programming at a Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA or a public school for free thanks to federal taxpayers. Congress set aside money for the programs to provide academic support, enrichment and child care to mostly low-income families, but President Donald Trump’s administration recently froze the funding.

The money for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers is among more than $6 billion in federal education grants Trump’s Republican administration has withheld, saying it wants to ensure recipients’ programs align with the president’s priorities.

After-school programs for the fall are in jeopardy

In Rhode Island, the state stepped in with funding to keep the summer programs running, according to the Boys and Girls Club of East Providence. Other Boys and Girls Clubs supported by the grants have found ways to keep open their summer programs, said Sara Leutzinger, vice president for communications for the Boys and Girls Club of America. But there isn鈥檛 the same hope for the after-school programming for the fall.

Some of the 926 Boys and Girls Clubs nationwide that run 21st Century Community Learning summer and after-school programs stand to close if the Trump administration doesn鈥檛 release the money in the next three to five weeks, Leutzinger said.

The YMCA and Save the Children say many of the centers they run are also at risk of shuttering.

鈥淭ime is of the essence,鈥� said Christy Gleason, executive director of Save the Children Action Network, which provides after-school programming for 41 schools in rural areas in Washington state and across the South, where school will begin as soon as August. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not too late to make a decision so the kids who really need this still have it.鈥�

Schools in Republican-led areas are particularly affected by the freeze in federal education grants. Ninety-one of the 100 school districts that receive the most money from four frozen grant programs are in Republican congressional districts, according to , a left-leaning think tank. Of those top 100 school districts, half are in four states: California, West Virginia, Florida and Georgia. New America鈥檚 analysis used funding levels reported in 2022 in 46 states.

Republican officials have been among the educators criticizing the grant freeze.

鈥淚 deeply believe in fiscal responsibility, which means evaluating the use of funds and seeking out efficiencies, but also means being responsible 鈥� releasing funds already approved by Congress and signed by President Trump,” said Georgia schools superintendent Richard Woods, an elected Republican. 鈥淚n Georgia, we鈥檙e getting ready to start the school year, so I call on federal funds to be released so we can ensure the success of our students.鈥�

The Office of Management and Budget said some grants supported left-wing causes, pointing to services for immigrants in the country illegally or LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts.

Summer clubs provide instruction for children

At the East Providence summer camp, Aiden, a rising third grader, played tag, built structures with magnetic tiles, played a fast-paced game with the other kids to review addition and subtraction, learned about pollination, watched a nature video and ate club-provided chicken nuggets.

Veteran teachers from his school corrected him when he spoke without raising his hand and offered common-sense advice when a boy in his group said something inappropriate.

鈥淲hen someone says something inappropriate, you don鈥檛 repeat it,鈥� teacher Kayla Creighton told the boys between answering their questions about horseflies and honeybees.

Indeed, it鈥檚 hard to find a more middle-of-the road organization in this country than the Boys and Girls Club.

Just last month, a Republican and a Democrat sponsored a resolution in the U.S. House celebrating the 165-year-old organization as a 鈥渂eacon of hope and opportunity.鈥� The Defense Department awarded the club $3 million in 1991 to support children left behind when their parents deployed for the Persian Gulf. And ever since, the Boys and Girls Club has created clubs on military installations to support the children of service members. Military families can sign up their kids for free.

鈥淚 suspect they will realize that most of those grants are fine and will release them,鈥� said Mike Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education policy think tank, speaking of the Trump administration’s review of the 21st Century Community Learning Center grants.

But not everyone is so sure.

Families see few affordable child care alternatives

Aiden鈥檚 mother has started looking into afternoon child care for September when kids return to school in Rhode Island.

鈥淚t costs $220 a week,鈥� Reyes said, her eyes expanding. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 afford that.鈥�

The single mother and state worker said she鈥檒l probably ask her 14-year-old son to stay home and watch Aiden. That will mean he would have to forgo getting a job when he turns 15 in the fall and couldn鈥檛 play basketball and football.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have any other option,鈥� she said.

At home, Aiden would likely stay inside on a screen. That would be heartbreaking since he鈥檚 thrived getting tutoring and 鈥渓earning about healthy boundaries鈥� from the Boys and Girls Club program, Reyes said.

Fernande Berard learned about the funding freeze and possible closure from a reporter after dropping off her three young boys for summer camp. 鈥淚 would be really devastated if this goes away,鈥� said the nurse. 鈥淚 honestly don鈥檛 know what I would do.鈥�

Her husband drives an Uber much of the day, and picking up the kids early would eat into his earnings. It鈥檚 money they need to pay the mortgage and everything else.

If her boss approves, she鈥檇 likely have to pick up her children from school and take them to the rehabilitation center where she oversees a team of nurses. The children would have to stay until her work day ends.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to imagine,鈥� she said.

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The Associated Press鈥� education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP鈥檚 for working with philanthropies, of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.