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Donors Bring Christmas Cheer  Once again, thanks to the kindness of our generous donors, hundreds of Boys & Girls Club members were able to celebrate the holidays. We would like to give special thanks to Bill and Debbie Pollakov who every year generously donates bicycles to Boys & Girls Club Members.
In addition, we would also like to give a warm thank you to Terry Hazard, who each year provides holiday happiness for all of our Boys & Girls Club Members by sponsoring the Clubs' Holiday Parties.
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A Tribute to "Miss Sara" Yarbrough
On November 6, 2009 after 34 years of dedicated service, "Miss Sara" Yarbrough retired from the Encanto Boys & Girls Club. She will be sorely missed by all those who ever came to the Club seeking a comforting smile or a protecting hug. For more on Miss Sara, Click Here. |
Miss Sara with Encanto Youth
on her last day at the Club.
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Miss Sara with Board Member
Tom Hazard on her retirement day
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Miss Sara with Officer Marcus Ramsey who stopped by to say his good-byes. Officer Ramsey, an alum of the Boys & Girls Club, often dropped in to visit Miss Sara and the Encanto Club.
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Staying on the Right Track  Participating in the 11th Annual “You Go Girl” track
meet were members from the Clairemont, Encanto, National City, Mitchell, Ron Roberts, and Oakes Branches, as well as the Linda Viata Teen Center. The event took place at Kimball
Park in National City. Girls, ages 6-18, participated in the shot put, 55M dash, 200M/400M race, and the long jump, Bronze, silver, and gold medals were awarded to the winners. At the end of the events, a group relay was held where one representative from each Club ran a leg of the 400M medley. The winners took home a coveted trophy.
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Building Community Spirit . . .And a Playground
Rome may have not been built in a day, but
the new playground at the National City Branch amazingly was. Thanks to volunteers from KaBOOM!, Home Depot, the United States Navy, the Boys &
Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego, and members of the National City community, the children at the National City Branch have a new place to play.
More than 200 volunteers participated in the playground build, divided into teams to construct various parts of the project. Build captains
were appointed to guide and motivate their teams making sure tasks were completed on schedule. The day’s festivities started off with 24 Hour
Fitness trainers warming up the crowd with some stretching exercises, and rousing cheers led by representatives from the Home Depot.
Several fun activities and contests took place throughout the day to keep the builders energized. Rob the DJ provided music to build by, creating an
atmosphere filled with positive energy.
National City Mayor Ron Morrison, and the entire City Council proclaimed June 25, 2009 to be “National City KaBOOM Build Day,” at a ceremony
commemorating the day’s events. County Supervisor Greg Cox, along with representatives from Congressman Bob Filner’s office, and Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny’s
office were also in attendance to celebrate the day.
The National City Branch, established in 1949 is a diamond to behold in the National City
community. The Club, now serving close to 200 members each day, is the newest member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego family,
having merged with the organization January 1, 2009. The National City Branch is positively a welcome addition, not only for its impressive facility and quality services, but for the
spirit and energy it brings to our organization, thanks to the passionate community members supporting the Club.
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What Dreams are Made of  “I want to be a Nurse Practitioner.” “I’m going to be an airline pilot.” “A video game designer…” “A college graduate…” “The next Obama...” These are just some of the many dreams envisioned by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San
Diego’s, “2009 Youth of the Year.”
At an event held June 20th at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, 18
of our finest youth were honored for their achievements and contributions to the
organization. The “Youth of the Year” is the top honor bestowed upon a member,
awarded for their service to their Club and their community.
Also honored during the evening’s festivities were Billy and Shirley Casper,
recognized with the 2009 Golden Achievement Award for their enormous
support to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego. The Billy Casper Youth
Foundation provides assistance to numerous local non-profit organizations, and
has been especially generous over the years to our Clubs, helping to realize the
dreams of our youth.
Click here for more Youth of the Year info.
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 Against all Odds: The Moses Chairez Story You could say that Moses Chairez has gangs in
his DNA. Both his father and his mother were gang members. His father spent time in prison and died of an overdose. His brother Joey was shot and killed
by a gang member in Escondido. His brother Mario struggled with substance abuse before dying suddenly in his sleep. What hope was there for Moses?
But Moses chose positive role models and took a different path. His mother, Betty, left the gang and became a born-again Christian. The Boys & Girls Club gave her a full-time job and paid for her education to become a child care teacher. Today, she is a drug and alcohol counselor with a caseload of 140 women and children.
Joe Gelormini, a wrestling coach at Escondido High School, became his male role model. Under his tutelage, Moses became the top 215 lb. wrestler in the county, a three-time league champion and MVP in 2008. His peers elected him team captain. But most important, his grades improved dramatically. He was named student of the month twice and won an
outstanding student award.
Moses was a member of the Boys & Girls Club for eight years. He participated in FFA, football and link crew in high school. He has served as a Sunday school
teacher and has worked as a cashier in a store. He will attend Palomar College and major in Fire Science/Technology with a goal to be a firefighter. The gang
Moses chose to join will save lives, not take them.
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Metlife Sponors Encanto Literacy Program
 On October 12, the Encanto Club was selected by Boys & Girls Clubs of America as a recipient of a Metlife Foundation Leverage for Learning Literacy Grant. The grant will help the Club to design and implement activities designed to increase leisure reading, motivate reluctant readers and promote positive attitudes toward learning.
Generously funded by MetLife Foundation, the specific emphasis for this project is literacy defined as "the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials.
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