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Formation | 1887 |
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Type | Youth organization |
Legal status | Non-profit organization |
Purpose | "Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence." |
Headquarters | Philadelphia |
Region served | Greater Philadelphia |
Website | http://www.bgcphila.org/ |
Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia is a non-profit organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1] [2] [3] The organization is a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. [4] [5]
Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia was established in 1887 in the city's Germantown neighborhood. [6] In 1892, the group expanded to the Nice town neighborhood and became the first club to serve girls. A third location opened in Wissahickon in1896 and was the first youth club in the United States to serve Black youth. [6]
In 1906 the Germantown, Wissahickon and Nice town clubs joined the Federated Boys Clubs, a precursor to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. [6] As of March 2021, the organization had 22 clubs in all areas of Philadelphia. Several suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [7]
In 2012 Joseph & Lisabeth Marziello were hired as co-CEOs. [2] [8] In 2015, the organization announced a $40 million capital campaign called Bold Change for Kids in order to build two new facilities and to renovate 6 more. The drive was supported by Comcast Corporation and the fundraising committee was headed by Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts. [9] [10] The original aim of the fundraising drive was the demolition of the 19th century Germantown club, located at 23-25 W. Penn Street, to be replaced with a new building with modern facilities. The plan was aborted after local residents objected. [11] [12]
Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia programs focus on core areas of youth development including education, career development, leadership, health, life skills, arts and sports. [13] [14] One program, the Call to Action Literacy Initiative, utilizes the Slingerland Multi-Sensory Approach to help students develop a range of learning styles using kinesthetic, auditory and visual learning techniques. [15]
During the 2015-16 program year, over 1,200 youth participated in this critical program. [15]