Summer Impact Report '22

The work of the Club, at its core, can be condensed into one question: “Who do you want to be?” I grew up in the Boys & Girls Club and I wear that experience proudly. I came in last place in a potato sack race in BGC San Juan, Puerto Rico. In Colorado, I built structures out of balsa wood in a team competition to see which designs could carry the most weight. Here in Napa, I was the undefeated champion in a Star Fox competition. I think it’s easy to look at these moments as an outsider and see them as fun experiences without any real impact, but that would be a mistake. Because every thing we do at the Club is intentional. Everything we do pushes kids and teens to be their best selves by embracing them for who they are, and pushing them to be more. “Who do you want to be?”

The Club’s mission isn’t accomplished through daycare. The magic that makes this possible is hidden in the connective tissue between these moments. In these middle spaces, I learned the value of kindness. I learned how to stand up for others. I learned through countless high fives, smiles, and hugs that despite the fact that my family was always in motion that a larger family was always waiting for me no matter where we moved. “Who do you want to be?”

Eight years ago, as a Club staff, I was crammed into one of two big yellow school buses with kids and staff on our way to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, or as true locals know it Marine World Africa USA. After more than a decade of summer programs, I look back on this annual trip with so much fondness. Wandering the park with my group of ten, checking out sting rays, tigers, and water rides. Smiling at the shocked expressions of parents who fight to wrangle their kids as our group slips by holding hands and singing songs. That’s a part of the magic that stays with you. That time the tiger lunged a HayHay from across the pool. The first time Catalina touched the trunk of an elephant. Or the suspiciously largebubble floating up from behind the walrus as he swam… Even so, my favorite memories are the ones on the way home. Watching as kids shared or gave away treats, they’d purchased for their friends at the gift shop. Listening as they joked and laughed about this or that. Those wonderful moments between the experiences. The context that shapes who we are and why these experiences are important. Making experiences like this is hard work, but they foster moments that take root in your heart and that is where great futures take shape.

This summer, 2,000 children and teens spent six weeks of Summer in our care. None of that would be possible without the incredibly brave, creative, and generous people who choose to put on a staff shirt every morning and say “Game On.” They deserve credit for every smile, every high five, and every story your kids have shared here with us this summer.