Category: El Camino

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Irma Espinosa

Irma was chosen to be our staff of the month for November. Her passion for helping the members and parents is what makes her shine bright. Parents love her, they feel comfortable coming and talking to her about any concerns their child may be having at the club. Irma does an outstanding job with leading… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Shantal Castro

Shantal has been employed with the Boys & Girls Clubs for the past 3 years, 2 of those years at our McKenzie site.  Shantal will be leaving us soon to focus her attention on school in order to become a teacher.  Shantal will be missed, but we thank you for all your hard work and… Read more »

Holiday Fun at Our Clubs

Club Members Get Into the Holiday Spirit Up and Down the Central Coast The Holiday Spirit is alive and well at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast!  Thanks to the thoughtfulness of local community groups and donors, many of our Clubs were visited by Santa, Club members received presents and some lucky… Read more »

Rotary Club Spends Holiday Afternoon at Railroad Club

Members of the Orcutt Rotary, led by long time Club donor and supporter Bob Ogden, came to the Railroad Club to share some holiday time with Club Kids.  With snacks and a sack full of gifts, the kids and adults enjoyed their time together.  Thanks to Rotary and Bob Ogden for always keeping our kids… Read more »

Anime Program Comes to Evans Park

Members of our Evans Park Club launched an Anime Program with the help of staff from the Santa Maria Public Library.  In this program, they are using their imaginations to dream up an anime character and title along with figuring out a creative superpower for their character.  Needless to say, this program is a blast… Read more »

Generous Donation of Bikes for Club Kids

Thanks to an amazing outpouring of commitment to giving back to the community, Waste Connections built and donated 60 bikes to our Clubs, along with hundreds of other bikes to other organizations serving youth.  A select group of Club Members at all of our Club sites were selected to recieve one of the bikes–which came… Read more »

Generous Gift Kicks off Season of Giving

 Administrators for the estate of Annabella Reinhold surprised Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast with a gift Ms. Reinhold was kind enough to bequeath to us.  Ms. Reinhold passed away in August in Arroyo Grande and listed the Boys & Girls Clubs as one of her beneficiaries.  After a long and interesting life,… Read more »

New Annual Fund Manager Joins Our Team

After an exhaustive search, significant sales experience and local connections make for a winning candidate The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast is excited to announce the hiring of Daniel Rushing as the Annual Fund Manager for Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast.  In this role, Daniel will be responsible for… Read more »

BGCMCC Voted Best Place to Work

For the 2nd year in a row, Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast was voted “Best Place to Work” by the Pacific Business Times .  The print publication sends out surveys throughout San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties and crunches the numbers to determine workplace satisfaction among those surveyed.  With a… Read more »

New Bikes Courtesy of a lot of Santa’s Helpers

Employees, their families, and community volunteers with Waste Connections spent a recent Saturday building 200 bikes they will donate to local youth-serving organizations.  Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast will receive 60 new bikes that we can distribute to our Club Members most in need of these great gifts.  Club staff transported the… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Brigette Verdin

Brigette has been with the Boys & Girls Club for 2 years. She is at our Oakley School Site. She does an outstanding job, especially with our youngest members. She is very patient and cares about our members improving day by day. She is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that our members… Read more »

Quality All Day Care When Parents Need It

School holidays don’t always mean a day off for parents.  We live the Boys & Girls Clubs motto:  “When Schools are Out, Clubs Are In” and switch to all-day programs for our Club Members on days when school is not in session.  Kids and their parents need the options that only Boys & Girls Clubs… Read more »

Longtime Board Member Honored as Philanthropist of the Year

Tim Murphy Honored by the Santa Barbara Foundation Congratulations are in order for Tim Murphy, a member of our Board of Directors for being honored by the Santa Barbara Foundation as their Philanthropist of the Year during the annual Celebrate Philanthropy! event in Santa Maria.  The Celebrate Philanthropy honor recognizes individuals, couples, or families who,… Read more »

Club Programs Offer a Little Bit of Everything

Up and down the Central Coast our 13 Clubs are offering programs as diverse as their communities and their Members.  From the arts, to STEM to quiet self-directed work, Club members get to try lots of things every week. Possibly inspired by the upcoming Empty Bowls event supporting the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, kids… Read more »

Tom Maas Building and Other Capital Projects Keep Making Progress

The construction of Tom Maas Clubhouse in Paso Robles is well under way!  The state -of-the-art Club has had steady activity since breaking ground in March.  To date, site retaining walls are almost complete…and with some 16″ thick block in the tallest ones, they are sturdy! Framing continues to move faster now and should be… Read more »

Torch Club Members Continue Doing Good for the Community

Torch Club members in Santa Maria have been busy serving their community.  They recently completed their second park clean up activity spending an afternoon collecting trash at the nearby Atkinson Park.  This activity not only helps make the park nice for other users, but it’s an opportunity for kids to see, first hand, the problems… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Lupe Uvalle

Lupe is hard working and a dedicated staff to our members.  Lupe literally spends the entire day with our members at Mary Buren.  During the morning she sees our members during lunch time and makes sure they are nice and fed.  All of our members LOVE Mrs. Uvalle.  During our summer enrichment program Lupe conducted… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Jordann Aragon

Jordann is known for having fun, being friendly, and an outgoing attitude with the members. Jordann has taken on many tasks here at the Club. Not only is she in charge of the teen room, she also has been walking members from Bruce, she is in charge of the Anime Club, and Santa Barbara County’s… Read more »

Pumpkin Partnership with Toyota of Santa Maria

Club Members from our newest Club at Bill Libbon Elementary School were asked by Toyota of Santa Maria to contribute decorated pumpkins to their car dealership pumpkin patch.  Always ready to show off their creativity and willingness to serve, these Club Members took pumpkin decorating to great heights!  As part of Toyota’s “Pinktober” pumpkin patch–an… Read more »

Ford Motor Company Increases Support to Central Coast Clubs

The Ford Motor Company recently let us know that they would continue their annual support of our Clubs.  Even increasing their annual gift to $15,000.00.  The Ford Fund focuses their giving on programs that serve middle school aged youth, especially in areas that help with STEM education, job training, and leadership.  Since our programming hits… Read more »

August 2021 Donors

Thank you to all of our Donors for your generosity! Brigette VerdinElizabeth AldanaAbraham BautistaAbraham BautistaErica LopezErica MezaJacob ZambranoMayra BautistaMr. Carlos CortezMichael PatinoMiss Daisy PerezFernando RamosGuadalupe SalazarMiguel Torrez-FraustoLiset Vazquez-RiveraLidia AvilaAlexis CastilloUnited Way California Capital RegionTarget CorporationMary BoltonViolet CavenderAllison CuevasMr. Ernie CuevasMelissa GodinezAlora McNultyJosue RojoTarget CorporationNetwork for GoodMr. & Mrs. Bill LibbonMiss Signe ZollerKelsie PradoKathryn ScottMs. Brandi… Read more »

YDP of the Month – Miguel Torres-Frausto

Miguel has been with the Boys & Girls Club for 9 years. He is our Club Director at Oakley Elementary where he has built a strong relationship with the school day, members, and parents. With his experience he has been able to establish a constant in the lives of the members at his site. Members… Read more »

Latino Heritage Month is Underway!

Hispanic & Latino Heritage Month celebrates the histories, cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans past and present. While it’s a monthlong celebration, it notably crosses over two calendar months – running Sept. 15th to Oct. 15th – coinciding with the Independence Day celebrations of Belize, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico… Read more »

In-Person Basketball Registration

On Thursday, September 16th, families that need access to computers or an internet connection to sign up their children in our much-loved basketball program, can visit the Railroad Clubhouse from 5:30 – 7 pm.  The Club will have tablets and computers available for parents to fill out the application and even request a scholarship to… Read more »

Community Service Under Way at Railroad Club

Members of the Torch Club at the Railroad Club site spent their afternoon helping to make their community and neighborhood better.  As a group, Torch Club members decide on ways they want to give back and for their first project of the year, they decided on a trash clean up at Atkinson Park in Santa… Read more »

Largest Single Gift in Club History Just Donated

Funding for the construction of the long-awaited Tom Maas Clubhouse in Paso Robles is now complete—the state of the art new facility to open in the Fall of 2022. Paso Robles, CA—September 9, 2021 – The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast today announced the generous donation of $543,000.00 raised at the must!… Read more »

Robert Bruce School-Based Site Is Full STEAM Ahead this Fall

The 5th and 6th graders at Robert Bruce did a STEAM activity where they were split into groups and only given 200 wooden popsicle sticks and one bottle glue to build a bridge. It took teamwork and collaboration to build the bridge. Winning group held 10 TEXTBOOKS!?! The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central… Read more »

What’s Happening at the Evans Park Club!

Lot’s of fun and creativity happening with Evans Park Club Members.  Yesterday, they designed and made their own tie dye shirts to keep and the younger Members started getting into Fall with Pumpkin Cookie decorating. The Evans Park Club is on site at one of the Housing Authority facilities.  This Summer, the Housing Authority started… Read more »

Mental Health Issues Among Kids at the Top of Mind With Boys & Girls Clubs

Kids Head Back to School—and Bring Covid-19’s Mental-Health Scars With Them They’ll be met by additional counselors, plans for mental-health screening and new programs to help tackle anxiety and depression MONTEREY PARK, Calif.—JR Dzubak was breaking up a fistfight between a group of high-school boys in July when he had a moment of doubt. What… Read more »

Join Us at the 18th Annual Elks Parade Festival

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mid Central Coast will have a featured spot at the Elks Parade Festival on Saturday, September 4th in Santa Maria.  Everybody’s favorite parade–the 78th Annual Elks Rodeo Parade–will follow it’s historic route along Broadway in Santa Maria starting at Mill Street and marching south to Enos Boulevard.  Our… Read more »

Club Kids Art Makes a Splash in Santa Maria

The brand new Honda of Santa Maria looks even more impressive now that two murals of artwork created by Club kids have been added to the facade.  When you are driving along Bradley Road you’ll see a vivid tropical bird as well as a gorgeous sea turtle adorning the backof the building and you can… Read more »

Programs Team Has Big Plans This Fall

The heartbeat of the Boys & Girls Club—our education professionals who plan and implement all of the high quality programming and activities that help Club Members stay engaged, reach goals, and make healthy choices—have been working for weeks to design programs that really ensure that “Great Futures Start Here!”  Anna Libbon, Director of Programs and… Read more »

Featured Clubs–McKenzie and Mary Buren in Guadalupe

For the month of July, our members at Mary Buren & McKenzie took over the Santa Barbara Zoo, La Purisima Mission, Central Coast Aquarium, and Rancho Bowl in Santa Maria.  In July, we took both Mary Buren and McKenzie students to the Santa Barbara Zoo. By far it was the highest Friday of attendance. Our… Read more »

Back to School Time is Here!

Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast has seen a whirlwind of activity as our Club members get ready for in-person school once again!  Thanks to some of our generous and thoughtful supporters, many of our kids benefitted from a great shopping trip for school clothes, as well as a bounty of school supplies.  … Read more »

YDP of the Month – Andrea Alonzo

Andrea Alonzo has been with the Boys & Girls Club for one year and is at our Railroad Club. During the school year, she had the difficult task of working with our youngest members. Andrea did a great job getting to know their school schedules and getting onto Zoom. She has done a great job… Read more »

YDP for July–Mary Bolton

Mary Bolton has been with the Boys & Girls Club for three years now. She is  our Club Director for our newest site, Bill LibbonElementary. She did a great job during the school year and our Summer Brain Gain Camp. She is currently helping at Railroad in the afternoons as Co-Club Director for the PM… Read more »

Happy Kids Makes for Happy Parents

I’ve had the great privilege of joining the staff of Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast this Spring. Over the course of my first few weeks and months, I enjoyed the opportunities I had to meet staff, watch them in action with our members, watch the members play and enjoy their time at… Read more »

Ford Motor Company Cares About Kids

For many years, the Ford Motor Company Fund has been supporting Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast kids through their national grant program and through support from the local Ford dealership—Santa Maria Ford. Focusing on programs and services that benefit “tweens” and those in Middle School, the Ford Fund provides grant money to… Read more »

YDP of the Month – Alexis Castillo

Alexis embodies selflessness. She is always willing to do what is asked of her. Alexis started the school year helping in Guadalupe and still worked Virtual Clubs for her home site, Bruce. In January, she returned to Bruce, and she has continued to be an asset to the team. She continues to do Virtual Club… Read more »