Category: McKenzie

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 »

Theater Comes to Guadalupe Club

Fun things happening at our Spring Break Program at Mary Buren! Thanks to Children’s  Creative Project and The Guadalupe Union School District our members were able to watch a performace put on by BOXTALES Theatre Company. Our members were able to see a story from Mexico, a story from Puerto Rico and hear a song… Read more »

Balloon Rocket Science for Kids !

Kids at the Boys and Girls Club always get excited when they know that we are doing a science experiment. The club members see it as Magic but much better because they are learning and its fun. Children are naturally curious about the world around them. They want to learn and have many questions about… Read more »

Neil Hebert of KSBY Will Emcee 40th Annual Auction & Gala

Neil Hebert of KSBY News Daybreak has generously agreed to emcee our 40th Annual Auction and Gala–An Evening in the Tropics on April 9th. Neil is dedicated to telling the stories of those making an impact on the Central Coast community and the support of KSBY in promoting our programs and services to local families… Read more »

Feeling the Love from Raising Canes

Special thanks to the new Raising Cane’s Restaurant in Santa Maria and their staff for their support for our Clubs!  We received $1000 as part of the grand opening celebration of their new store in Santa Maria. Thanks especially to Tim Foreman (Restaurant Leader… pictured), Oscar Rembao (Area Leader of Marketing), for their decision to… Read more »

Members Get Creative with Repurposed Goods

Members at Evans Park were able to create new unique pieces thanks to donations from a community member. Plates, cups, and a variety of pearl beads were used as tools to create artistic pieces for family members or friends. Our member Emma created a special piece for her mom that reads “I Love You” with… Read more »

BGCMCC Expanding into San Luis Obispo

As most working parents know, afterschool childcare is not as easy to access for many families as they would like.  The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast has been at the forefront of providing high-quality, affordable afterschool programming since 1966 and is now poised to expand their services into San Luis Obispo.  Thanks… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Ian Ramos

Ian is our Assistant Club Director at Ontiveros Elementary and he had been with our organization for 3 years. He did an outstanding job covering while the Club Director was on vacation. Being able to lead while the Club Director was out is a valuable asset for his Club. His initiative and leadership are some… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Elisia Estrada

Elisia has been with our organization for a little over a year.  During our Winter Program Elisia worked double shifts in order to provide a great service to the members in Guadalupe.  Currently she is having a blast running Money Matters and teaching our members the importance of having good credit!  Thank You Elisia for… Read more »

Winter Basketball League Ends a Great Season

After a one year hiatus, due to Covid-19 safety precautions, Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast held its much loved annual youth basketball league with exceptional participation among local kids. With registration starting in September and practices and games beginning in October, the annual league provided months of exercise, sportsmanship, skills development and… Read more »

January Key Performance Indicators

Thank you to our January Donors! Abraham Bautista Allison Cuevas Alora McNulty Brigette Verdin CyberGrants SPV, LLC Dale W & Dennis V Gomer Donna Gallison Elizabeth Aldana Erica Lopez Fernando Ramos Fischer’s Fine Jewelry Floyd Bland Frank McCoy Givinga Foundation, Inc. Guadalupe Salazar Helen Tomac Jacob Zambrano Jay Hardy Hardy Diagnostics John Joyner Josue Rojo… Read more »

Bikes Donated for Back A Youth Night

On February 24th, Club Members have a chance to win awesome new bikes donated by Main Street Cycles!  As part of the 32nd Annual Back A Youth Night, Club Members and the Adult Mentors who will spend the evening together participating in games, learning activities, eating dinner and having lots of fun, will also have… Read more »

Cookies & Kids Kicks Off in Santa Maria

The newest, in-person mentorship programming to come to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast kicked off in Santa Maria with a Valentines theme.  “Cookies & Kids” is a program that has been two years in the making.  “Club Members spending quality time with adults in our community who care about them is… Read more »

Winter Planting at the Railroad Club

Club Members, with direction from Youth Development Professional, Mary Rosas, have spent the last few weeks planting seeds, tracking their growth, and are now starting to see some new life.  The kids planted beans, potato, and avocado and the bean plants are starting to sprout!  Not only are they learning and experiementing with plants, growing… Read more »

STEAM is in full steam at our Clubs

Up and down the Central Coast, our Clubs are enjoying lots of STEAM activities and projects thanks to the creativity and desire to teach that comes from our Youth Development Professionals.  One of our Clubs practiced building stable structures using only marshmallows and toothpicks.  They will follow this up with some analysis and data exploration. … Read more »

Volunteer Kick Off Meeting Next Week!

A strategy/planning meeting for our 2022 Events will be held, via zoom, on February 2.  Anyone interested in sharing their time and talents to help plan and produce exciting “white glove” events that will engage and motivate our community to support the amazing work happening at Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast is… Read more »

The Stollmeyer Challenge Will Double Donations in 2022

Rick Stollmeyer sees the growth of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast as so vital to helping local kids succeed that he has agreed to match all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $300,000 in 2022! Stollmeyer is passionate about the importance of exposure to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math)… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Mayra Bautista

Mayra is such a great employee that this is her second time being recognized as YDP of the Month!  Mayra was a great assist to our Winter Intersession program.  Mayra took lead when our Area Director and Club Director were on vacation.  Mayra can now make decisions and answer questions without having to check in… Read more »

Driving to the Future With Club 66

It takes all kinds of donations to keep the Boys and Girls Club of Mid Central Coast driving toward a better future for local youth, especially those who need us most. Volunteering, mentorship, one-time donations, and event sponsorships are just a few of the ways our community helps us support the future of our Club… Read more »

Winter Sessions Provide Excellent Childcare During Holiday Break

Throughout the Central Coast, Club sites have been offering winter sessions for Club Members during the school break.  Parents and kids are benefiting from these high quality, immersive day long experiences so kids are engaged and active during their time off from school.   From holiday-themed activities, to science-based investigations, to physical activity, Clubs in Guadalupe,… 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 »

Quality Childcare Available During Winter Break

Thanks to our partnership with the Guadalupe School District we will offer all day programming at our Mary Buren Club Site during the entire Winter Break.  Grades TK through 8th grade in the Guadalupe School District will be served with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast’s high quality programming, including arts, sports, reading,… 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–Elisia Estrada

Elisia has been a part of Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast-Mary Buren for about a year.  Elisia brings in her knowledge of art and Robotic Coding to our students at Mary Buren.  She is very popular with our members because they get to “play” (CODE) robots with her.  Elisia is also very artistic… 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 – Denise Pitacua

Denise has been with us in Guadalupe for about 10 months. She started at Mary Buren while we were in distance learning.  She was a great fit with our elementary members, but we quickly realized that she has a lot of experience working with Junior High students. Denisse was then moved to our McKenzie Club…. 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 »

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 for July – Matt Garcia

Matt Garcia has been working at the Mary Buren Club site since Oct. of 2020. He was part of opening up City Hall during Virtual Learning in order for us to serve more members who needed a safe, positive place to do their virtual learning. Matt is our only male figure at Mary Buren and… 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 – Lezly Barriga

Lezly has been with us for two years. She is currently working at Evans Park and has been doing a great job helping Yesica and the club members. She is always willing to help wherever needed and even helped move supplies and equipment into storage to get ready for the remodel. She has built supportive… Read more »