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Boys & Girls Clubs of America

American youth development organization

Field	Value
name	Boys & Girls Clubs of America
logo	Boys & Girls Clubs of America Logo.svg
formation	1906
type	Youth organization
status	Non-profit organization
headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia
region_served	United States, U.S. military installations
leader_title	President and CEO
leader_name	Jim Clark
website	[bgca.org](https://www.bgca.org)

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a United States–based nonprofit organization that operates a nationwide network of more than 5,500 local Boys & Girls Clubs. The organization serves children and youth by providing safe spaces, caring adult mentors, meals and snacks, and youth development programs that support academic success, leadership skills, and health and wellness. BGCA holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, is headquartered in Atlanta, and operates regional offices across the United States. Boys & Girls Clubs of America reaches more than 4 million kids and teens each year through its Club programs across the United States, Native lands, and U.S. military installations.

History

The origins of Boys & Girls Clubs of America trace back to 1860, when the first Boys' Club was founded in Hartford, Connecticut, by three women, Elizabeth Hamersley and sisters Mary and Alice Goodwin. In 1906, 53 independent Boys' Clubs came together in Boston to form a national organization, the Federated Boys' Clubs. In 1931, the organization renamed itself Boys' Clubs of America, and in 1990, to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. As of 2010, there are over 4,000 autonomous local clubs, which are affiliates of the national organization. In total these clubs serve more than four million boys and girls. Clubs can be found in all 50 states as well as locations in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and US military bases. In total, Boys & Girls Clubs of America employ about 50,000 staff members.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Boys & Girls Clubs of America number one among youth organizations for the 13th consecutive year, and number 12 among all nonprofit organizations. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America is the official charity of Major League Baseball.

Denzel Washington, a former club member, has been the spokesperson for Boys & Girls Clubs of America for over 25 years, since 1993. and in 2006, for the organization's 100 anniversary, helped put together with Daniel Paisner, a book that underscores the lesson: “If you want to change the world, start by changing the life of a child”. "A hand to guide me" features examples from leaders as they tell their life-changing stories of mentorship, when as youngsters they were guided by a caring adult, which shaped the rest of their life, including over 70 of America's leading personalities in theatre, sports, business, and politics such as Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Whoopi Goldberg, Muhammad Ali, Yogi Berra, Toni Morrison, Cal Ripken Jr. and Colin Powell.

Lists of founders

Boys Clubs of America, 1940

These people came together in 1940 to create the Boys Clubs of America:

Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States
William E. Hall, US Medal of Honor recipient
Albert L. Cole, CEO of Reader's Digest
James A. Farley, United States Postmaster General
Albert C. Wedemeyer US Army Chief of Plans and Operations
Matthew Woll, vice president of the AFL-CIO
Jeremiah Milbank, two-time Republican Party Finance Committee chairman
Stanley Resor, Secretary of the Army
James B. Carey, president of AFL-CIO
J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Lewis L. Strauss, chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
Robert E. Wood, quartermaster general of the army, vice-president of Sears
Fred C. Church Jr., insurance businessman
H. Bruce Palmer, president of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company
Edgar A. Guest, TV and radio host
Nicholas H. Noyes, Indianapolis, Indiana; oil mogul
George A. Scott, president, Walker-Scott Company
E. E. Fogelson, Army colonel and cattle and oil baron
Ernest Ingold of San Francisco, California
Jesse Draper of Atlanta, Georgia
Julius J. Epstein
John Albert

Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 1990

In 1990, Boys Clubs of America was succeeded by Boys & Girls Clubs of America, which was founded by the following people:

Gerald W. Blakeley, Jr., Boston, Massachusetts
Roscoe Brown, Bronx, New York City, New York
Cees Bruynes, Stamford, Connecticut
Arnold I. Burns, New York, New York
John L. Burns, Greenwich, Connecticut; President of the Boys' Clubs of America (1968–81), Chairman (1981–88){{citation | access-date = September 1, 2015
Hays Clark, Hobe Sound, Florida
Mrs. Albert L. Cole, Hobe Sound, Florida
Mike Curb, Burbank, California
Robert W. Fowler, Atlantic Beach, Florida
Thomas G. Garth, New York, New York
Moore Gates, Jr., Princeton, New Jersey
Ronald J. Gidwitz, Chicago, Illinois
John S. Griswold, Greenwich, Connecticut
Claude H. Grizzard, Atlanta, Georgia
George V. Grune, Pleasantville, New York
Peter L. Haynes, New York, New York
James S. Kemper, Northbrook, Illinois
Plato Malozemoff, New York, New York
Edmund O. Martin, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Donald E. McNicol, New York, New York
Carolyn P. Milbank, Greenwich, Connecticut
Jeremiah Milbank Jr., New York, New York
C. W. Murchison III, Dallas, Texas
W. Clement Stone, Lake Forest, Illinois

Notable members

Some notable members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America:

Ashanti
General Wesley Clark
Donnie Copeland
Misty Copeland
Lee Corso
Modie Cox
Denzel Curry
John Paul DeJoria
Dom DeLuise
John Duren
Anthony Ervin
Don Fisher
Edward Furlong
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Natalie Gulbis
Hulk Hogan
Evander Holyfield
Earvin "Magic" Johnson
Michael Jordan
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Dante Lauretta
Sugar Ray Leonard
Paul "Triple H" Levesque
Jennifer Lopez
Mario Lopez
Vince McMahon
Ne-Yo
Danny Neaverth
Edward James Olmos
Shaquille O'Neal
Katy Perry
Joey Reynolds
Smokey Robinson
CC Sabathia
Adam Sandler
Martin Sheen
Usher
Courtney B. Vance
Michael Vick
Denzel Washington
Kerry Washington
Shaun White

Donations received

Following the success of the film Black Panther, in 2018 Disney donated $1million to Boys & Girls Clubs of America for the development of STEM programs in the United States. The donation was to be allocated to help grow the group's national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum. According to Mimi LeClair, president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago, it is very important for young people to have a solid background in STEM to compete in the global economy.

References

(2024). "2024 Annual Report". Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Boys & Girls Club Leadership University. "COREv2: History of the Boys & Girls Club."
(June 19, 2012). "MLB Community: Programs: Boys and Girls Clubs of America". MLB Advanced Media, L.P..
King, Scott. "Denzel Washington Shares Spotlight With Boys & Girls Clubs Of America Award Winner".
"Denzel Washington: A Hand to Guide Me {{!}} Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog".
(May 11, 1994). "Title 36 – Patriotic Societies and Observances". US Congress.
"Great Futures Start Here".
"Evander Holyfield". Boys & Girls Club of America.
Gibbs, Alexandra. (February 27, 2018). "In honor of 'Black Panther' success, Disney donates $1 million to Boys & Girls Clubs of America for development of STEM program". CNBC.
(February 26, 2018). "Solid STEM background is important for youth to compete in the global economy.". ABC7 Chicago.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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