In every community, boys and girls are left to find their own recreation and companionship in the streets. An increasing number of children are at home with no adult care or supervision. Young people need to know that someone cares about them.
Boys & Girls Clubs offer that and more. Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.
Boys & Girls Clubs are a safe place to learn and grow – all while having fun. They are truly The Positive Place For Kids.
What Makes Us Different:
- Dedicated Youth Facility
The Boys & Girls Club is a place – an actual neighborhood-based building – designed solely for youth programs and activities. - Open Daily
Many Clubs are open every day, after school and on weekends, when kids have free time and need positive, productive outlets. - Professional Staff
Every Club has full-time, trained youth development professionals, providing positive role models and mentors. Volunteers provide key supplementary support. - Available/Affordable to All Youth
Clubs reach out to kids who cannot afford, or may lack access to, other community programs. Annual membership dues are low.
The Scope of the Movement
- More than 4.2 million young people served annually through membership and community outreach
- Some 4,000 Club locations
- Locations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and on U.S. military bases around the world
- More than 50,000 trained professional staff
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America had its beginnings in 1860 with several women in Hartford, Conn. Believing that boys who roamed the streets should have a positive alternative, they organized the first Club. A cause was born.
History Highlights
- In 1906, several Boys Clubs decided to affiliate. The Federated Boys Clubs in Boston was formed with 53 member organizations – this marked the start of a nationwide Movement.
- 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.
- 2006 marked the Centennial year of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, as we celebrated 100 years of providing hope and opportunity to young people across the country.
Building Character
Character development has been the cornerstone of the Boys & Girls Club experience since the first Club opened in 1860. The first Club professional, John Collins, devised a system of informal guidance to attract boys into the Club, capture their interest, improve their behavior and increase their personal expectations and goals.
The procedures Collins used constituted a clearly planned, socially scientific system of taking boys off the street and promoting their development towards a successful, productive future. This system formed the basis of the Boys & Girls Club environment. It is still in use today with proven results.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America believes that character development, the basic building block in personal development, should be an integral aspect of every Club program and activity. In support of this conviction, Aaron Fahringer, a regional director for the west coast in the 1950s, scripted the Boys & Girls Club Code as part of the celebration of the golden anniversary of the Movement. The code was adopted as official by the National Council in 1955, and was used extensively in the 50s and 60s. The Code is still displayed in many Clubs today.
The Boys & Girls Club Code
I believe in God and the right to worship according to my own faith and religion.
I believe in America and the American way of life…in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
I believe in fair play, honesty and sportsmanship.
I believe in my Boys & Girls Club, which stands for these things.
