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BUILDINGGREATFUTURESTOGETHER.BGCHV.comSPRING 2022

Youth of the YearClub Honors HBHS Senior Elena VanderveenWe are proud to announceElena Vanderveen is theClub’s Youth of the Year!Elena has been a Clubmember for 11 years.She is a great rolemodel for our youngerClub members and has been anessential part of our danceand theatre program, including volunteeringas a teacher’s assistant in dance classes. AllisonHorner, Director of the Club’s dance and theatreprograms, comments, “Throughout our yearstogether, I have watched Elena grow from a studentto a mentor. Elena is a very focused, committed,and passionate student of the performing arts. Sheis a huge support to our dance program inspiringour younger students to excel. Elena is a light ineveryone’s lives – quirky, fun, exceptional, and unafraidto be herself. She is a self-assured, resilient, individualwho is committed to sharing her talents and helpingothers.” Elena is a four-year recipient of Boys & GirlsClubs of America’s prestigious Hank Aaron Chasingthe Dream scholarship for her dance studies and shewill be graduating from Huntington Beach High Schooland it’s Academy for the Performing Arts this spring.She hopes to pursue a Criminal Justice/PoliticalScience Major in college. Congratulations, Elena we know you have a GREAT FUTURE ahead!Youth Development Professional AwardsHonoring Exceptional Staff MembersThe Club honored some very special staff memberswith its Youth Development Professional of the YearAwards. The honoree from each Club embodiesour Whatever It Takes to Build Great Futures mottoand shows extraordinary commitment to making theBoys & Girls Club the best it can be for the kids weserve. Congratulations to our Youth DevelopmentProfessionals of the Year! ClubHouse Academy – Jackson Loeuk Haynes Family Huntington Beach Branch –Danielle Drake Kingston Branch – Brittany Sayles Oak View Branch – Daniela Gomez Pacific Life Foundation Branch – Emma CoopmanWe could fill up this whole newsletter with stories aboutwhy each of them is exceptional! We’ve chosen justone story to share with you today.Huntington Beach Branch Youth DevelopmentProfessional of the Year Danielle Drake started herjourney with the Boys & Girls Club as a Club memberwho participated in our ClubHouse Theatre program.She loved her own experience at the Club somuch that she was inspired to come back as astaff member. She began working at the Club inthe Arts & Crafts room in 2017 as a seasonal staffmember working winter and summer breaks whilefinishing her Bachelor’s degree. Over thelast five years, her role has grown andshe now works at the Club yearround while also working towardbecoming a credentialed teacher.Danielle currently works with thekindergarteners at our Haynes FamilyHuntington Beach Branch and hasworked with Club members ofall ages. In her current rolewith our kindergarteners,Danielle helps withhomework, gets the kidsexcited for fun, hands-onSTEM activities, and workswith kids to develop theirDaniellesocial/emotional learning.She is often assigned to workwith groups and members that needextra help because she is fantastic atgiving kids the support they need toreach their potential.Congratulations to each of theseexceptional staff members who goabove and beyond every day to give thekids at the Club the very best experience!EmmaJackson

Thank you, Disney!Disney Donates 1,500 Books for Club KidsThanks to a donation of 1,500 books from Disney, theClub was able to celebrate Read Across America weekwith a FREE book fair at every branch. Every child atour school age Clubs and preschools got to pickout a book to help build their home library. The kidsloved this opportunity to take home books about theirfavorite characters and there were fantastic choicesfrom board books for babies to novels for teens andeverything in between.Reading is FUNdamentalCelebrations of Literacy Month andRead Across America WeekBy 3rd grade, kids move from learning to read toreading to learn. At the Club, we help young childrenlearn to love reading and we help kids of all agesstay on grade level with their reading to supporttheir academic success. And, as we always doat the Club, we strive to make learning as FUNas possible. In March, our Clubs and preschoolscelebrated Literacy Month and Read Across AmericaWeek. Fun reading and literature related activities wereincorporated into our programming throughout thesespecial times.At our preschools during Read Across Americaweek, a book was selected for each day to provide abackdrop of themes for children, staff, and parents toparticipate in for dressing up and other fun activities.One favorite dress up theme day was “Wear theAlphabet Day” with lots of children arriving in outfitswith sports team names, school names, and funhomemade costumes with bright names and letters.Children learned about upper and lower case letters,practiced recognizing upside down and sidewaysletters, and had lots of fun learning rhyming songs withmusic and movement.At our school age Clubs, Dr. Seuss played a big partin the Read Across America Week celebrations. Inaddition to reading great stories, kids made puddingTruffula Trees from The Lorax, made Cat in the Hatstyle hats, did a STEM project to make Oobleck fromBartholomew and the Oobleck, and made a craft withwriting prompts based on Oh The Places You’ll Go.Projects like these extend Dr. Seuss’s creative andimaginative world beyond the pages of books andinto kids’ everyday lives to help kids see just how funreading can be!

THANK YOU! SURF CITY ROTARYSurf City Rotary Makes a Big SplashRotary Donates 62,000 to the Boys & Girls ClubThank you, Surf City Rotary, for once again choosingBoys & Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley as the premiercharity beneficiary for the annual Surf City RotarySplash fundraiser! With more than 200 participants,the event raised nearly 125,000. 50% of the proceedsare designated for the Boys & Girls Club, resultingin a 62,000 donation from Surf City Rotary. Overthe years, Rotary has donated more than 1,000,000to support Club programs. Beyond their annualdonation from the Splash proceeds, Rotary also givesadditional financial support to the Club. Surf CityRotary's support provides groceries for families whoare food-insecure and purchases back to schoolshoes and supplies, holiday gifts, and much morefor families who need a helping hand and are part ofthe Boys & Girls Club. This is only possible thanks tosupporters like you who help make Surf City RotarySplash such a big success. Thank you to all whoparticipated in this fantastic event!Making a Big Impact and Leaving a Lasting LegacyDonor Advised Funds & Endowment GiftsThere are so many ways for you to support the Boys & Girls Club! Donor AdvisedFunds, often called DAFs, allow you to donate cash or stocks to charities like theBoys & Girls Club. Do you already have a DAF through Fidelity, Schwab, or BNYMellon? If so, you can start your gift at bgchv.com/dafWould you like to leave a lasting legacy that will help children even beyondyour lifetime? Consider supporting the Boys & Girls Club’s endowment. Yourcontribution either today or through your estate plans will ensure that the Boys &Girls Club is always here for the children and families who need us most.Learn more by contacting Laura at laura@bgchv.com or 714-309-4962.

Meet our New Board PresidentGet to Know Wink WilliamsThe Boys & Girls Club’s Board of Directors elected itsnew slate of officers in January, each with a 2-yearterm. We’d like to introduce you to our new BoardPresident, Wink Williams, who has been on the Club’sBoard of Directors for five years and most recentlyserved as Vice President for two years.Wink shares, “I first got involved with Boys & GirlsClubs of Huntington Valley back in the 1990’s raisingmoney for the Club with my ‘Wink’s 2 on 2 BasketballTournament.’ I was fascinated with the programs andfacilities provided to our local youth. It was a no brainerthat this was the cause we wanted to support.“As a volunteer for the Club, nothing inspired memore than to see multitudes of kids fully engagedin whatever activity they were participating in. And itreally made me think that if they did not have the Boys& Girls Club, where would they be? Home alone? Outon the streets? Or worse. This inspires me to this day.”When asked what made him want to get more involvedas Board President, Wink said, “I worked in NorthropGrumman’s leadership for30 years and have also ledmany volunteer efforts overthe years. I felt that I shouldbring those skills forwardas Board President. It is veryhumbling that the Board trusted in meto have this position, because our Boardmembers are all successful themselves in business,community service, and so much more.”Looking ahead throughout his two-year term, Winkcomments, “As a Board, it’s our challenge to supportthe Boys & Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley and itsstaff so the Club can emerge on the other side ofthe pandemic stronger and better than ever before.This requires unprecedented engagement with andparticipation by local businesses, civic leadership, andthe community at large, to raise awareness and fundsthat allow us to expand scholarships, education, andprogram offerings to our youth.”Honoring Community Leaders for their DedicationCongratulations to the Boys & Girls Club’s 2022honorees, who received awards this year for theirextraordinary service to the Club. Each honoree givesso much of their time, talent, and resources to makethe Boys & Girls Club the best it can be for the kids atour Clubs and we can’t say thank you enough. Allison Horner & Bob Hoxsie received the Fromthe Heart Award for going above and beyond intheir service to the Club, for their dedication to theClubHouse Theatre program. Mike and Sloan Gallipeo received the Man &Youth Award and Woman & Youth Award inrecognition for their outstanding leadership. Hoag Hospital received the CorporatePartnership Award in recognition for themany ways the Club and hospital workedtogether to get through the pandemic. National Service Awards honor dedicatedvolunteers for every five years of service tothe Boys & Girls Club.o Barbara Delgleize - 5 Yearso Ron Kupferstein - 10 Yearso Brian Ton - 10 Yearso Resa Evans - 15 Yearso RJ Mayer - 20 Yearso Bob Hoxsie - 35 Yearso Ed Arnold - 55 YearsEd Arnold’s extraordinary 55 years of volunteerservice spans the entire history of the organization.From founding board member in 1967 to Board ofGovernors and Annual Benefit Chair in 2022 andevery moment in between, Ed has always given his allfor the kids! Ed’s commitment to Boys & Girls Clubsis legendary in our community, and there is even aCounty-wide Boys & Girls Club awards program namedin his honor – the Eddy’s. At this year’s Eddy’s, theClub was proud to honor Lyn Semeta with the Eddy’s2022 Board Leadership Award for using her strategicplanning, resources and community connections tosupport the Club and for always making the kids at theClub her top priority.