Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Motto	"To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens."
Formation	1860
Type	Youth organization
Legal status	Non-profit organization
Purpose/focus	"Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence."
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia
Region served	United States
Website	http://www.bgca.org/

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (or BGCA) is a national organization whose mission is to "enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens." The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, had its headquarters in Atlanta, with regional offices in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, New York City and Los Angeles.

Contents 1 History 2 Notable members 3 Demographics 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] History

The first Boys' Club was founded in 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1906, 53 independent Boys' Clubs came together in Boston to form a national organization, the Federated Boys' Clubs. In 1931, the organization renamed itself Boys' Clubs of America, and in 1990, to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. There are currently (2009) over 4,000 autonomous local Clubs, which are affiliates of the national organization. In total, Boys & Girls Clubs of America employ about 49,000 staff members.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Boys & Girls Clubs of America number one among youth organizations for the 13th consecutive year, and number 12 among all nonprofit organizations. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America are the official charity of Major League Baseball.^[1] Denzel Washington, a former Club member, has been the spokesperson for Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 1993.

[edit] Notable members

[edit] Demographics

Gender 55% - Male 45% - Female Ethnicity 36% - Caucasian 31% - African-American 21% - Hispanic/Latino 6% - Multi-racial 3% - Asian 3% - Native American

Age 2% - under 6 11% - under 7 26% - 7-9 30% - 10-12 21% - 13-15 11% - 16-18 1% - over 18

[edit] See also

• Camp Whitcomb/Mason

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Boys & Girls Clubs of America Web site
• The Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston records 1893-2004 (M103) are available at Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department.