Month: May 2022

National Fine Arts Program Inspires Budding Artists

The National Fine Arts Program is a favorite program at our Clubs and both Clubs in Guadalupe, McKenzie Middle School and Mary Buren Elementary, showcased the artwork of their members at their annual art show.  Local community leaders served as judges and were impressed with two-dimensional artwork encompassing a variety of media–everything from “bubble art”… Read more »

New Outdoor Amphitheater and Play Space to be Celebrated in Santa Maria

On June 6th, the community is invited to a ribbon cutting and celebration of new outdoor space at the Railroad Clubhouse in Santa Maria.  Through a combination of generous community donations and funding through a grant from the Pacific Youth Foundation, the Railroad Club has expanded its usable space to include an outdoor amphitheater and,… Read more »

Members Learn Their Japanese Names

In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Month, our members at Evans Park took the time to get focused and work on learning their Japanese names. While it was a bit challenging, they were adamant about learning a new way to spell their names. Members were impressed to see the finished result, and even added… Read more »

New Additions to Full Time Team Help with Growth and Advancement

As the organization adds Clubs and programs to serve more kids, the need for full time staff to help lead these efforts has also grown.  The Resource Development department is thrilled to announce the addition of Kelly Knox as the Event Manager who is responsible for overseeing the production and execution of numerous events and… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Blanca Macedo

Blanca is a former club member in Guadalupe.  She has been a staff member since August of 2017.  She started as a YDP and currently she is the Club Director for McKenzie Intermediate School.  Blanca runs a very successful site despite being short staffed.  For the past several months Blanca was doing the job of… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Josue Rojo

Josue has been with the Club since August of 2016. He is our Club Director at Bruce School and does a great job of leading both members and staff at his club. He is a great at creating supportive relationships with his members and making sure that they are engaged during activities. which creates a… Read more »

Annual Auction and Gala Was a Tropical Success!

On April 9th, 150 of our best supporters and friends gathered at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria for our 40th annual Auction and Gala.  With the theme “An Evening in the Tropics” the event committee created an elegant, tropical paradise complete with floral tablescapes, fruity drinks, and music that transported attendees to the vacation… Read more »

April Key Performance Indicators

Thank you to our April Donors! Il Cortile Ana Santana Anita Shower Audrey Dodd Brenda Pardo Buffalo Wild Wings Foundation CA Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs California Community Foundation Cane’s Celena Madriz Chuck Merrill Clint Slaughter Comcast Financial Agency Corporation Community Foundation Santa Cruz County Conrad Stephens Conrad Stephens Dale W & Dennis V… Read more »

Daily Soccer Challenges Provide Lots of Fun and Learning

One of the fun programs run at the Shandon Clubhouse is soccer. The Members have been extremely enthusiastic about their soccer sessions. Some learning objectives have been playing kickball, developing soccer tricks, demonstrating teamwork skills, building individual confidence, and demonstrating foot accuracy. The Summer days haven’t stopped the Members from having fun. On hot, sunny… Read more »

Shandon Club Is Busy in May!

During the month of May, the Shandon Club Members have been active in many interesting and enjoyable activities. A staff member’s birthday was celebrated on Friday the 13th with a Happy Birthday song, a birthday cake, and some yummy ice cream. Such a sweet moment! Members also participated in some indoor activities like a dry… Read more »

Member Monday-Alek

Meet our member Alek.  He has been a member since he was six years old and still loves to attend. He is a fifth grader and is eleven years old. Alek posesses many great skills, but the most important one is his great leadership skill. He is patient, outgoing, and extremely kind. He is the… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Griffin Cook

Griffin is the Club Director at our new Laguna site in San Luis Obispo and has played such an integral role in getting the club ready. From doing TV interviews, Open Houses, and making sure to build connections with school staff and the teens during the lunch and after- school programs, Griffin has embodied the… Read more »

Member Monday–Carlos

Meet Carlos, one of the members of our Teen Club.  He’s a 9th grader and is 14 years old.  The staff says Carlos is very kind and always willing to help and share with others.  He loves playing soccer.  With the new outdoor space at the Railroad Club, he can really start enjoying more soccer… Read more »

Helping Kids Learn From the Covid Experience

Thanks to a grant from the California Alliance for Health Club members have been able to use art and creative writing to help process their understanding of the Covid experience.  They have also learned a lot about the science of vaccines and about careers in the medical field.  Our Youth Development Professionals are leading sessions… Read more »

Growing With Kindness

Club members at our Evans Park Club learned the importance of plants and how they benefit our planet.  They also learned how plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen which in turn helps purify our air. Members assisted in pulling weeds from a planter to prepare it for new seeds to grow. Along with the… Read more »

Dodgeball at Atascadero Club

Members at the Atascadero club had some fun with rounds of dodgeball for the first time this school year! All members were so excited and enjoyed fun, safe rounds of dodgeball. They even got a few rounds of members versus staff as well! They handily defeated the staff and enjoyed every minute of it. Dodgeball… Read more »

Atascadero Celebrates Cinco De Mayo With Frozen Treats!

The members at our Atascadero Club got to cool down with some frozen Mexican treats to kick off the celebration of Cinco de Mayo! They all enjoyed this special snack along with rounds of lotería (Mexican bingo) and a special viewing of the movie Coco.

Member Monday–James

 James is a huge kindergartner personality who is a Member of the  Flamson Club. He is always courteous and respectful to Staff and his fellow Members. He has been a part of our club for a little over 9 months. James deserves a shout out because he is a caring individual who gave his ice… Read more »

Laguna Rings in Spring with a Ping Pong Table

The Laguna Club started off its first full month of being open with a brand new Ping Pong table. The addition of the table has paved the way for some light hearted competition amongst members and staff alike. The first ever Tuesday tournament was held, the winner of which being staff member Grant. Grant bested… Read more »

OJJDP Program In Action at Flamson Club

Ms. Lynea and four middle school Members did clay making for their mentoring session. Ms. Lynea works with our middle school members and works on all middle school programming at the Flamson site. OJJDP is a group mentoring program focused on helping youth succeed in academics and to help at risk youth. The Members participate… Read more »

Stress Balls Made of Water?

Members at the Flamson Club expressed an interest in making water bead stress balls. Water beads are small beads that you put into water and they grow into larger squishy beads. We soaked the waterbeds overnight and planned a fun activity for the Members. We took the members to the field and used balloons, water beads,… Read more »