The Boys & Girls Club Story

How We Celebrated MLK Day

On Saturday, President Obama and his family observed the National Day of Service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. by volunteering at an elementary school renovation in Washington, D.C. Across the country, millions followed the President’s lead.  

On Friday, January 18, staff members from Boys & Girls Clubs of America prepare and serve a filling lunch to those less fortunate. Numerous staff joined in to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the many ways he served our country.

Here in Atlanta, Boys & Girls Clubs of America staff spent Friday morning helping prepare and serve meals for more than 400 homeless men, women and children. On Monday, my family volunteered with many other community members to feed hundreds of homeless people in downtown Atlanta. Samantha, my wife, and I want our boys Chase, 10, and Grayson, 8, to experience why helping others is important … and how it makes you feel good inside. 

During yesterday’s inaugural address, President Obama spoke of how a “great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life's worst hazards and misfortune.” That’s what Clubs do – but not just once a year. 

Every day, Clubs answer Dr. King’s call to serve by making a difference in kids’ lives. It’s a safe, fun place to spend their out-of-school hours; a place where fundamental values like citizenship and service get instilled, ideals that, in due course, strengthen our communities.  

What project did you take part in last weekend? I’d love to know more about it. Feel free to leave me a note below.

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve.”

Next Monday, Jan. 21, our nation will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy. For some of us, MLK Day of Service means a welcome day off from school or work. As the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service, MLK Day also offers ample opportunities to support our communities.   

My family will volunteer in our community on Monday to help in a small way, but also to reflect on the spirit of why Dr. King was so impassioned to make our towns, cities and nation better for all. We’ll spend time with our sons to make sure they understand the significance of what the day is all about and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. I encourage you to engage in some way on Monday as well. 

This day is also an important one for Club members. Studies show kids who are involved in civic engagement programs have higher school attendance rates and are more likely to graduate from high school than their peers who don’t participate. That’s why we make sure community service is a vital part of every young person’s Club Experience. Last year, for instance, Club youth throughout the nation performed more than 1.3 million hours of service to help strengthen their towns and cities.  

On Monday, Club kids around the country will follow in Dr. King’s footsteps and set inspiring examples of character and citizenship. They will clean up neighborhoods, spend time with senior citizens and give back to their communities in many other ways to make the world a better place.

Dr. King once said, “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve.” Those simple, influential words ring just as true today. So reach out to your local Club or community service group and join Club youth to make a difference on Jan. 21. Let’s all commit to honoring Dr. King’s legacy and make next Monday a day on, not just a day off.

To Be Healthy or Not to Be Healthy, That Is the Question

I received my blood results from my annual physical just before the holiday break.  To my surprise, my cholesterol is high. (With a growing appetite for rich foods like cheesecake, should it have really been a surprise?)  The doctor suggested I might go on medication to reduce the cholesterol.  I politely refused. However, the news has brought my health into focus like never before.

Like many people, I resolved I would get healthier this year.  While 45 percent of Americans set New Year's resolutions, only eight percent are successful at achieving them, according to a survey by the Opinion Corporation.  Why is that?

And then an epiphany occurred during the holiday break.  With some downtime, I realized I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get fit and healthy. I’ve been in pursuit of fitness as if it were some ephemeral thing.  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks that there’s nowhere to get to.  I simply decided to be healthy.   Like Hamlet, to be or not to be is the question.

Assume the Role
First, I created an ideal picture of health and fitness.  I then imagined myself already being the ideal picture of health.  I’ve transformed myself by thinking from the ideal instead of thinking of the ideal.  This is a slight but profound perspective.  Every state is only a mere possibility as long as we think of them.  Every state becomes real when we think from them.

I’ve realized my entire thought system must be transformed.  The first step was creating and fueling the desire to change.  Then I decided to make the future dream a present fact.   I’ve created an ideal of the person I want to be and assumed that I’m already that person. 

The feeling of health, vitality and fitness has become so vivid.  You will know you’ve attained the feeling when you are possessed by it and the concentrated focus fills the mind and crowds out all other ideas.  It causes self-defeating thoughts to disappear and reduces distractions.  You must be conscious of being healthy if you are to realize what health is.  Health is not created.  It is displayed. 

Be. Think. Act.
Healthy decisions have followed suit. I’ve altered my diet; I’m drinking more fluids; and I’m taking cholesterol-reducing supplements. I’m also physically active six days a week. I registered for a half-marathon in March.  After a night of planned consumption on New Year’s Eve, I woke up at 7 a.m. to get in my 4 mile run.  I didn’t feel much like running after a night of socializing and watching the Possum Drop (a local, folksy New Year’s festivity).  However, the great thing about being is that it allows me to “have” my feelings and not be ruled by them.

Wayne B. Moss is BGCA's senior director of Sports, Fitness and Recreation.

Some may dismiss this approach as fantasy.  However, we know all progress has come from those who didn’t accept the predominant view of the world as it is.  Today there are no tips today on what to do, only a recommendation on how to be. 

Working with my doctor, I will continue to think like an active and fit person. I’ll report back soon on how cholesterol reduction is going!

Have a happy and fit 2013!

Play the Giving Game for Kids

This is a special time of year. A time to reflect on the year past and, perhaps, set resolutions for the one to come. It’s also a time for giving, especially to those less fortunate. It reminds me of what's important in life and how special life is itself. At Boys & Girls Clubs, we focus on providing special gifts to kids and their families all year long. Every day, we help those who need us the most to create their own Great Futures.

As you consider ways to help others this holiday season, consider playing The Giving Game – a fun way to help Clubs and kids with just one click. To play, keep your eye on the box with the heart. Pick the right one to provide art kits, Club memberships and other gifts to Clubs that took part in our Kids Give Back contest.

Giving back, after all, is at the core of the Club Experience. Around the country, for instance, members are helping Clubs impacted by Hurricane Sandy. In Massachusetts, Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester members hosted a bake sale to support their Northeast peers. At the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Flint in Michigan, kids volunteered their time to buy new board games for Clubs impacted by the storm. The Flint organization also donated $5,000 from its Emergency Fund to the heavily damaged Club in Atlantic City, N.J.

As we approach the New Year, I invite you to join me in a resolution: to intensify our resolve to change the dynamic for kids who need us most in America and create opportunities for their long-term success. From my family to yours, all the best for a joyful and happy holiday season. 
 

Delightful Indulgences: Be Wise About Holiday Food Choices

I spent Thanksgiving Day with family and was a bit disappointed that my sister-in-law Barbara didn’t make her famous bean pie. I could eat bean pie every day. It’s got beans in it so it has to be healthy, right?

The holiday season officially started on Thanksgiving Day.  For many of us that represents a month of eating.  Unfortunately, for most of us, there will be a month of handwringing and feeling guilty about what we ate. We’ve spent most of the year in a quest to “be good” and to do the right thing with our diets. I’ve made an effort to cut down on bread (except pizza), increase my lean meat intake and finding ways to include avocados in my diet. 

However, within the 30 days several things are going to happen to both you and me. We’re going to pack up and visit family. While hanging with your sister in the City of Brotherly Love, you’re going to indulge in a messy, juicy, Philly Cheesesteak with melted cheese on a fresh fluffy roll.  Or you will get invited to the Sunday brunch by friends.  There will be an obligatory holiday party given by the boss.  The boss’ husband inevitably will be a chef and there will be the social pressure sampling all the delectable sauces, cheese balls and desserts.  Resistance will be futile. 

They have a saying in California, “Ignore your health and it will go away.”  It’s an interesting contradiction.  We think we shouldn’t have that piece of Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with our best friend.  But life is short.  We rationalize to ourselves, “I could get hit by a bus tomorrow.”  And if we go crazy and eat everything that’s put in front of us, life will be short.

We tell ourselves we will get back on course after Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanzaa (okay, that’s what I tell myself.  I’m sure it’s just me).  To all of that I say, let’s give ourselves a break.  Food, beverage, family and friendship go hand-in-hand.  We are social beings.  Food is a part of our social nature.  Many of our best memories involve time spent with those we love while eating.

You should choose wisely and moderation is the key.  I’ve decided if I’m going to indulge, it needs to be “worth it.”  Feel free to indulge in the apple strudel cheesecake over lunch with your BFF.  However, you may want to pass on the sugar cookies that have been sitting at the break station for the past two days. 

BGCA is helping families across America by hosting the Third Annual Triple Play Fit Family Challenge.  Hundreds of Club families have been participating in fitness and nutritional activities while spending quality time together through the holiday season.  Five deserving families will win a trip to Los Angeles and spend time with Jackie Joyner-Kersee in January. The Triple Play Fit Family Challenge is designed to help families practice smart nutrition, become more physically active and to spend quality time with each other. 

Wayne B. Moss is BGCA's senior director of Sports, Fitness and Recreation.

We debated mightily about if the holidays were the best time to conduct the Fit Family Challenge.  In the end, we all concluded this was an opportunity to support families during the season.  We’re seeing impressive stories coming from around the country about families spending healthy time together.

And since family time is always a special time ... I’m looking forward to Barbara’s bean pie at the Kwanzaa celebration. 

Help a Club Win $2,500!

Happy community servants at the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson County, N.C.

In 2012, Club kids across the country performed more than a million hours of community service. To celebrate this great achievement, BGCA invited Clubs nationwide to enter their service projects in the Kids Give Back Contest and a chance to win $2,500.  

We’ve picked out 12 of the best. Now it’s up to you to choose the winner! Just go to GreatFutures.org/give and vote for the one that moves you the most.  

 Choosing just one won’t be easy. Club kids did a lot for communities in 2012. Projects included environmental clean-ups, spending time with senior citizens, planting public gardens, even volunteering in Haiti. You can vote for your favorite once a day at GreatFutures.org/give through Dec. 19.  

Pojoaque Pueblo: Teen Centers and More

Pojoaque Pueblo is one of the six Tewa-speaking Rio Grande Pueblos and is located in a rural, high desert area of Santa Fe County, N.M., with a population of about 1,900 and 373 enrolled tribal members.  Approximately 40% of its tribal population is under 18. The Pueblo has a long list of young families who qualify for low- to moderate- level income housing. 

The Pojoaque Pueblo Club created a teen center, complete with snack bar, framed college sports jerseys, television and cafe-style booths to give teens a space all their own.

The Pojoaque Pueblo Club has a college "wall of fame" to encourage members to think about life after high school.

Until the 1980's, the Pueblo’s unemployment rate was estimated at 80%. Due to the lack of economic opportunity, many tribal members lived and worked in neighboring Pueblos or communities and throughout the United States.  At that time, the Pueblo government undertook a major Community Development Plan.  They opened businesses including gas stations, hotels, a golf course, sandwich store and two other restaurants, a supermarket, a hardware store, a laundromat, a mobile home park and an apartment complex. The tribe also leases space to outside businesses. This has created 100% employment of tribal members. 

During the creation of the plan the tribe also focused on the health and success of its members across all ages.  They built a beautiful, full-service Wellness Center in 2003 and chartered a new Boys & Girls Club next door in 2008, creating a thriving partnership between the two.  Not only can Club members use the Wellness Center facilities, including the pool, weight room, classes and gym, but Club members often serve as volunteers and lifeguards at the Center. 

Linda Wiltse is BGCA's vice president of Program & Youth Development Services.

Earlier this year, the tribe reached another longed-for goal and opened a beautiful new Boys & Girls Club Teen Center across the street from the existing Club.  Take a look at these fantastic pictures for a few Teen Center “best practices”!

Inspiring Visits to Clubs Struck By Sandy

Last week, I visited three Boys & Girls Clubs in New Jersey still feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy. The extent of the devastation was staggering. With Thanksgiving days away, I was reminded of all we have to be thankful for in our lives and how special life is to us all.

The day after Hurricane Sandy hit the New Jersey shore, a staff member paddles by the Hoboken Club to check on the building.

But what moved me most was Club staff members’ sheer inner fortitude and will to overcome almost insurmountable circumstances for the benefit of our children. These amazing individuals’ unflagging spirit enabled them to triumph over the harsh hand they’d been dealt. Many buildings and institutions in these communities won’t open their doors for a long time – far longer than it took our Clubs to clean up, rebuild and figure out a way to re-open or find an alternative Club for kids to attend.

On the Jersey shore, Executive Director Mekos Denson took us through the Chelsea Unit of the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City. After investing in renovations to give members a better Club experience, five-foot high flood waters had gutted the facility. With the unit closed indefinitely, the top priority is to coordinate transportation for Chelsea’s 100-plus members to the crosstown Pennsylvania Unit. Kids have been calling like crazy to find out when they can come back.

Despite major water and wind damage, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Union County re-opened in Union just days after Sandy hit. The storm tore off three roofs and did significant harm to the after-school Learning Center, swimming pool and two gymnasiums. CEO Russell Triolo credited the quick restart to staff members working around the clock to remove debris.

Three feet of water, courtesy of Sandy, left tons of mud and debris, destroying the gym floor in Hoboken.

In Hoboken, Executive Director Gary Greenberg led us through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County’s local unit. The destruction was stunning. Three-foot high flood waters had wiped out the ground floor, including the recently renovated Teen Center. An NBA-quality maple wood gym floor that Club youth took such pride in was now covered in grimy rubble.

On first seeing the facility, one staff member shared, he’d wondered if it was over in Hoboken, where kids need the Club so much. But dedicated professionals like Wafa Hubroman wouldn’t let that happen. Once the roads were drivable, the Unit Director began working 14-hour days to get the Club operating – despite no power or water at her home or at the Club.

It was also Wafa who arranged transportation for Hoboken members to their sister Club in Jersey City, impressing on them to respect their peers as part of the larger Club organization. The kids got along pretty well in Jersey City, where about 265 of them broke bread at the Club’s 37th annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Before serving them dinner, board volunteers greeted arriving Club kids with a receiving line of high-fives.

What I saw at these Clubs proved what I already knew deep inside. What we do at Boys & Girls Clubs is far more than a job. No matter what, we are here to serve the kids who need us the most. It was an emotional day, filled with hope and inspiration amid the brutal results of this natural disaster. I’ll never forget it.

The Rhythm of Mentoring: Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Around 1,750 Clubs received funding through the U.S. Office of Justice Program's (OJP) 2011-2012 mentoring grants. Each funded Club connected Club youth with mentors who, through a supportive and caring relationship, help them toward improved outcomes such as better school performance or attendance, healthier life choices, decreased involvement in the juvenile justice system, or enhanced family relations.

Through music, Greg McGhee connects with Club members from the Boys & Girls Club of The Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Atmore, Alabama.

Greg McGhee is a tribal member, youth counselor, and mentor at the Boys & Girls Club of The Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Atmore, Ala. Greg is also a drumming instructor who teaches drumming to five Club members in the mentoring program. The young men Greg mentors enjoy learning about their culture at the same time they’re learning about drumming. They also enjoy the company and have a good time when they get together, which enhances the “fun” element of their Boys & Girls Club experience.

Linda Wiltse is BGCA's vice president of Program & Youth Development Services.

Greg became involved with drumming when he was a child. He always loved the sounds of drumming at the local powwow. When he got older, he joined the powwow club and began to drum. He enjoys teaching drumming because of the tradition and values behind it. He wants youth to know their heritage and feels one of the best ways to learn is through drumming, which gives them a life-long connection to their culture.

Thank you, Denzel, for 20 Incredible Years

It was 20 years ago today that Denzel Washington graciously agreed to be National Spokesperson for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The announcement came on The Arsenio Hall Show, the then-popular national late-night talk show. We could not be more grateful for Denzel’s ongoing celebration of Clubs.

Denzel knows firsthand the life-changing difference the Club can make in a kid’s life. At age 6, he joined the Boys Club of Mt.Vernon, N.Y. There, Club director Billy Thomas instilled in Denzel that, with dedication and hard work, he could achieve anything he set his mind to. At Billy’s request, past members who went on to college would bring him school pennants. Hung in a hallway near the gym, the pennants inspired Denzel and his fellow members that they, too, could become college students.

A two-time Academy Award winner, Denzel has used his celebrity to raise unprecedented awareness of Clubs. In interviews, he always mentions the positive impact the Club Experience has had on his life, including, for instance, recent cover stories in Delta Sky magazine and AARP: The Magazine.

BGCA Spokesperson Denzel Washington stars in the Where's Your Card public service announcement.

His personal contributions to Boys & Girls Clubs are staggering. They include appearances in five public service announcements, donating all proceeds of his best-selling book on mentoring to Clubs, and stirring audiences as keynote speaker at National Youth of the Year ceremonies.

Since 1996, Denzel has served on our Board of Governors. He is a member of the BGCA Alumni Hall of Fame. In 2004, we presented Denzel with our highest volunteer honor, the Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Award. I’m not sure how else to pay tribute to this selfless, accomplished individual, so I’ll simply end with our heartfelt gratitude.

On behalf of the nearly 4 million kids served at some 4,000 Clubs and affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations: Thank you, Denzel, for 20 incredible years.