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Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, has its headquarters in Atlanta, with regional offices in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, New York City and Los Angeles.[1] BGCA is tax-exempt and partially funded by the federal government.[2]
 | |
| Formation | 1906 |
|---|---|
| Type | Youth organization |
| Legal status | Non-profit organization |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
Region served | United States |
President and CEO | Jim Clark |
| Website | bgca.org |
The first Boys' Club was founded in 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut, by three women, Elizabeth Hamersley and sisters Mary and Alice Goodwin.[3] 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, and US military bases. In total, Boys & Girls Clubs of America employ about 50,000 staff members.[4]
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.[5]
Denzel Washington, a former club member, has been the spokesperson for Boys & Girls Clubs of America for over 25 years, since 1993.[6] and in 2006, for the organization's 100 anniversary, helped put together 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.[7]
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Boys Clubs of America, 1940
These people came together in 1940 to create the Boys Clubs of America:[8]
- 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)[9]
- 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
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Some notable members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America:[10]
- 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[11]
- Earvin "Magic" Johnson
- 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
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Following the success of the film Black Panther, in 2018 Disney donated $1 million to Boys & Girls Clubs of America for the development of STEM programs in the United States.[12] The donation was to be allocated to help grow the group's national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum.[12] 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.[13]
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