Home Sweet Home
Boys and Girls Club Makes a Difference in Asbury Park BY EMMA SYLVIA
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very kid deserves a place that they can call home. But for some kids, their actual house doesn’t quite feel like home. That’s exactly the issue the Boys and Girls Club, a nonprofit organization that planted its roots in Asbury Park all the way back in 1938, hopes to remedy. Doug Eagles, a Shrewsbury resident and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County, began in his role in 2012. Having worked in youth development for more than two decades, Eagles was drawn to the nonprofit from seeing the important work they were doing to make an impact in local communities. The Boys and Girls Club was once just a little house on Main Street in Asbury Park, before moving to its larger location in 1951. Over the years, it’s expanded even further, adding more sections, such as a gym and a pool, recently acquiring the property across the street and dubbing it as their Wellness Garden. Though the original Boys and Girls Club started in
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Hartford, Connecticut, the Asbury location is their own entity, being a part of a federation of 550 clubs across the country. “We collaborate with clubs across the country,” Eagles explains. “We have a statewide alliance on issues important to New Jersey. We work with our elected officials to make sure any policies take into consideration the youth and impact they have.” A Lasting Legacy “We focus on providing an ecosystem of opportunities to allow kids to explore their passions and interests,” Eagles explains when discussing the mission statement of the Boys and Girls Club. “People think we just do gym and swim — and that’s part of what we do, but the heart of it is developing these kids into who they see themselves as in the future. We want to ensure they have those opportunities. We want to