The Boys and Girls Club of America is an organization that offers boys and girls a safe place to go and build relationships with adults. The purpose of the boys and girls club is to help young kids out, especially those who come from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds. It is a sort of safe haven to those kids who might not want to go home because of certain situations at home. When the kids got there they do everything from homework, play basketball, search the internet , and talk to some of their peers who might be. But sports is a big thing almost all 3,103 Club locations have a full sized basketball courts and some even have swimming pools. There is a Boys and Girls Club in all 50 states, including clubs on international military bases.
Seven women who believed that boys who walk around the streets need a positive alternative started the Boys and Girls Club in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1906, several Boys Clubs decided to affiliate. The Federated Boys Clubs in Boston was formed with 53 member organizations. .
-In 1931, the Boys Club Federation of America became Boys Clubs of America. .
-In 1956, Boys Clubs of America celebrated its 50th anniversary and received a U.S. Congressional Charter. .
-To recognize the fact that girls are a part of our cause, the national organization's name was changed to Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1990. Accordingly, Congress amended and renewed our charter. (www.bgca.org).
The president of the Boys and Girls Club is Roxanne Spillett . Spillett heads the nation's fastest-growing youth development organization with a primary focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Her 1996 appointment as B&GCA's president marks the culmination of a career spanning 20 years in Boys & Girls Club work and made her the first woman to lead the organization. Drawing on input from more than 2,000 volunteers, Club professionals and management experts, Spillett led B&GCA through a strategic planning process that is guiding Boys & Girls Clubs into the 21st century.
