"The very first condition of lasting happiness is that life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self."
- Hugh Black
Get Involved
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"The very first condition of lasting happiness is that life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self." - Hugh Black
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Get Involved
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August 29, 2008 | |||||||
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 An Extended Family February 1, 2001 The Boys & Girls Clubs want to form a partnership with your family. With 2,591 branches nationwide, the Boys & Girls Clubs have become an extended family for kids all over the country. Read on for a preview of how their leadership, arts, recreation, education, and health programs have turned at-risk youth into "Youth of the Year." Read a personal story from Daniel Johnson, President/CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, Washington Are you or is somebody you know an alumnus of the Boys & Girls Clubs? Share your inspiring story. The case for youth mentoring programs has been made, and the facts are clear: at-risk kids have better opportunities when they have positive extracurricular activities and supportive adults to guide them. From Big Brother Big Sister programs to midnight basketball leagues to after-school programs at neighborhood YMCAs and YWCAs, everything contributes to the crusade to connect with kids whose lives lack hope, warmth, and promise. One pioneering youth mentoring organization, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), has a reach that few such programs can match. With 2,591 local chapters throughout the entire 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, the Boys & Girls Clubs have touched the lives of 3.3 million children in the United States since 1860. The BGCA involves over 50,000 trained professionals in a range of leadership, arts, environmental, recreational, educational, and health programs, all tailored to the unique needs of boys and girls who wouldn't otherwise have any access to those activities. Former Presidents (like Bill Clinton), fake Presidents (like The West Wing's Martin Sheen), and all-around favorites (like Michael Jordan and Denzel Washington) have all reaped the benefits of the Boys & Girls Clubs. In Washington state's Puget Sound area, the BGCA has built a groundbreaking chapter. The Boys & Girls Clubs of King County encompasses eleven branches, twenty-four child-care facilities, and two teen centers and touches the lives of 17,000 boys and girls. One of the largest in the United States, the 57-year-old chapter first opened on the site of a street riot in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood. The positive results were contagious! Eight additional local chapters had sprouted within two years. The King County club's Power Hour -- an after-school tutoring and homework assistance program -- and Smart Girls -- an initiative designed to provide pre-teen and teenage girls with positive health and societal decision-making tools -- are just two of the club's outreach campaigns making a huge difference in the lives of area youth. Every year, the BGCA of King County honors ten youth who have demonstrated a well-roundedness consistent with the Club's commitment to service, academic performance, spiritual values, and community leadership. GoodThings is pleased to feature each of those ten “Youth of the Year” here on our Web site. We are proud to be a sponsor of this inspirational and important award. Daniel Johnson, President/CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of King County A self-taught boat builder. An adoptive dad. A former wilderness instructor for juvenile delinquents. The son of “pathologically supportive parents.” Calling the president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County multi-dimensional seems an understatement. An energetic and dedicated leader, Daniel Johnson's 20-year commitment to improving opportunities for at-risk youth has led him to a post that has inspired him to a simple goal: to “help kids feel like they belong and are believed in.” His entire career has been full of stories of kids whose lives have been changed by the efforts of mentors or youth programs, and his six years with the Boys & Girls Clubs have been no exception. He loves telling Amanda's story: Amanda was a developmentally disabled 13-year-old functioning at the five-year-old level when her mother first brought her to the Boys & Girls Club. She immediately became a “ray of sunshine” at the club, making it her home away from home. She was drawn to the club's rock-climbing wall, but just to watch the other kids. She was afraid to try it herself, saying “No! No!” whenever anyone suggested it. But gradually, she eased over to the wall and began edging her way, ever so slowly, upwards. The other kids would move a piece of masking tape up the wall to mark her steady progress. One day, Johnson heard the cries of her familiar voice: “Daniel! Daniel!” She had made it to the very top of the wall. Her parents were incredibly moved. Her mother said that Amanda wore her Boys & Girls Club T-shirt under her shirt everyday because it made her feel safe. She said her daughter's greatest disability was not physical or mental; it was her loneliness. The support of the Boys & Girls Club had changed all that and had rejuvenated Amanda's spirit. For Daniel Johnson, Amanda's story represents the amazing possibility of the Boys & Girls Clubs, and, as the King County club's leader, he is committed to turning amazing possibility into glorious reality. Send your own stories about how the Boys & Girls Club changed your life or that of someone you know. |
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