BOYS & GIRLS CLUB WEEK
National Boys & Girls Club Week recognizes the invaluable service Clubs bring to communities. The week shines a spotlight on the 61,000 caring, trained youth development professionals who mentor kids and teens every day in 4,300 Clubs across the nation and on U.S. military installations worldwide.
The Boys & Girls Club of America The week shines a spotlight on the 61,000 caring, trained youth development professionals who mentor kids and teens every day in 4,300 Clubs across the nation and on U.S. military installations worldwide.
The beginnings of the Boys & Girls Club began in 1860 thanks to three women, Organizers in Hartford, Connecticut united to create the Boys Club Federation of America in 1860 to offer a positive alternative to boys roaming the streets. In 1931, the organization became the Boys Clubs of America. Mary Goodwin, Alice Goodwin, and Elizabeth Hammersley. What started as a way to bring children off the street and focus their attention on positive goals and organized activities, continues to reach out to young people and keep them at the center of everything they do.
TIMELINE
- 1860 – The Boys & Girls Clubs of America take root in Hartford, Connecticut when the first club is created.
- 1906 – Several clubs unite into the Federated Boys Club. This date is the official beginnings of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
- 1931 – The Boys Club Federation of America becomes the Boys Clubs of America.
- 1956 – On their 50th anniversary, Boys Clubs of America received a U.S. Congressional Charter.
- 1990 – Girls are as much a part of their mission, and as such, the organization’s name is changed to Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Check out the Facebook page. Visit a local Boys and Girls Club – especially after school or on a Saturday to see the tutoring, skill building and the healthy activities that go on in the Club.
Use #BCGWeek to follow on social media.
HISTORY
For more than 75 years, the Boys & Girls Club has celebrated their volunteers, members, and mentors for a week at the end of March or the beginning of April.
