For more than fifty years, the Boys & Girls Club of Garfield has been changing the lives of youth in and around the Garfield community. We are extremely proud of our achievements and how we have contributed to the success of individuals in all aspects of society. Our alumni have gone on to lead major corporations, become Professional athletes, internationally recognized lawyers and financial analysts, educators and leaders for our country – who knows one day our alumni may be walking the halls of Congress or even in the Oval Office.
Boys & Girls Club of Garfield volunteers and professionals know that all youth deserve access to the tools necessary to succeed in life. Our programs have always focused on giving youth a fun, safe, rich environment to develop the skills needed to achieve a great future. Over time, this has meant expanding from being a gym and swim Club – to now also providing state-of-the-art technology and learning centers to prepare members for the careers of tomorrow.
In the past year we have accomplished so much including but not limited to officially opening a second Boys & Girls Club of Garfield site at Garfield Middle School. This is a 21st Century Community Learning Center that has refocused the entire organization on the important role that the Club plays in the academic success of our members.
Our past successes tell us that the Boys & Girls Club of Garfield has the capacity to change and save lives. In a new decade we must work harder to have a greater impact on our youth. Currently, our nation’s students rank 25th in the world in math and 17th in science. Twenty-five percent of youth fail to attain a high school diploma; 19 percent of our children live in poverty and 17 percent of adolescents are obese. The communities we serve are no different, we are seeing too many of our members struggling in school. We need to do better. We will do better!
Moving forward, we must achieve deeper impact. This deeper impact will require a commitment and an intentional approach to our programming and operations. This means that not only must we be clear in our goals for youthbut we must be intentional and systematic in the way we implement the Club Experience. This means working in partnership with schools and community partners to provide the supports and services needed during the critical out-of-school hours so that our members will achieve great futures.
The history of the Boys & Girls Club of Garfield tells us that each time the Club has achieved greatness, it was driven by commitment to the mission – to serve the young people who need us most. These past accomplishments, changes and achievements including moving from Garfield Boys Clubs to Boys & Girls Clubs of Garfield, and moving from a club in desperation to a club thriving with members – have strengthened the resolve of our Club.
As leaders, friends, donors, parents and staff of the Club we must be relentless in our commitment to strengthen our programs and create an exciting, life-changing Club Experience. The Club has:
We know the Boys & Girls Club of Garfield works to change lives. With all of this and the values of our Club being Teamwork, Leadership, Commitment to our Mission, Quality and Integrity, we know that we will effectively ensure that, “Great Futures Start Here” for every young person who walks through our doors. Thank you so much for everything that you do and we appreciate your continued commitment to support the Boys & Girls Club of Garfield.
Best wishes,
Paul J. Casey
CEO, Boys & Girls Club of Garfield
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Boys & Girls Club of Garfield