Neal Communities, a Southwest Florida private homebuilder, recently donated $5,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lee County to support the Odyssey of the Mind program. Odyssey of the Mind is designed to be a fun, problem-solving competition program that teaches students teamwork, spontaneous thinking and creative skills while preparing them for real-world challenges.

Each Odyssey of the Mind team is made up of seven students and is supported by an adult coach who helps the team stay organized but does not influence their solution to the problem.

This is the first year BGCLC has participated in Odyssey of the Mind. The BGCLC team is a young team, comprised of two middle school students and five elementary school students. They recently participated in a regional competition, held Feb. 24, at Ray V. Pottorf Elementary School in Fort Myers. The team placed second in the middle school division and advanced to the state-level competition, which was held March 30 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

Teams that advance from the state-level Odyssey of the Minds competitions will compete again at the World Finals at Iowa State University My 21-24.

The donation from Neal Communities allowed the BGCLC to purchase team T-shirts for the competition and will help cover the costs of travel to the state-level competition.

With a philanthropic culture and a core belief that “Where You Live Matters,” Neal Communities has given more than $8 million to local charities throughout Southwest Florida and is committed to the communities where they live, work and build.

For more information about Neal Communities, visit NealCommunities.com. For more information about Odyssey of the Mind, visit odysseyofthemind.com or floridaodysseyofthemind.com.