BizTucson Winter 2024 Boys & Girls Club of Tucson 2024

SPECIAL REPORT 2024

THE REGION’S BUSINESS MAGAZINE

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF TUCSON

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JIM CLICK

LAURIE WETTERSCHNEIDER

MARK IRVIN

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65for Years the Kids

A History of Tucson’s Best Working Together

PHOTOS: COURTESY BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF TUCSON

By Jay Gonzales

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In the last 65 years, there’s no telling how many thousands of kids have stories to tell about the impact the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson have had on their lives.

The stories can be compelling.

Jon Volpe was a local kid from a broken home who sought guidance and security from the Boys & Girls Clubs. He was on his own after school with a loving but single mom who worked nights “to make ends meet.” He saw his older brother go to prison several times. He knew the same path was there for him to follow. Instead, he took another.

To this day, he credits his success as a college and professional athlete, as a graduate of Stanford University, and as a prominent Tucson businessman to the opportunities the clubs gave him as a youth.

Volpe is currently owner and chair of the board of NOVA Home Loans, one of the leading mortgage, investment and insurance companies in the country.

“I owe a lot to the Boys & Girls Clubs,” Volpe said. “I don’t think I would be where I’m at today if they weren’t there for me after school to give me the support and guidance and mentorship that I needed.”

Likewise, University of Arizona basketball hero Sean Elliott was a “club kid” who spent his time after school and in the summer with his two brothers at the Steve Daru Clubhouse at 1375 N. El Rio Dr., next to the El Rio Golf Course.

“My mom took all three of us there because she and my dad worked all the time,” Elliott said, saying he spent “countless hours” at the club. “They needed to

make sure that we had a place we could go where it was safe, and where we weren’t out in the streets and getting in trouble.

“The biggest thing is it just kept us active. I loved all the activities there.

I loved to build models and I loved to play chess. I believe I learned how to play chess at the Boys & Girls Club, and I played a lot of checkers.”

Who’s Who of Supporters Volpe, Elliott and thousands of other local kids have been the beneficiaries of an organization that, for decades, has attracted support from a veritable who’s who of the Tucson business and philanthropic community.

Longtime Tucson auto dealer Jim Click became a supporter when his friends and business partners convinced him to get involved. In the early 1980s, Click, through his uncle, Holmes Tuttle, linked up with the organization’s western region manager who told him the Tucson clubs were having some financial trouble. Click said he jumped right in, gave the local clubs a $50,000 loan through a local bank he owned with some partners, and started fundraising.

Click’s influence was such that President Ronald Reagan came to Tucson to dedicate the club named after Holmes Tuttle at 2585 E. 36th St. “The first fundraiser I got involved in, we gave away a (Ford) Thunderbird,” Click recalled. He helped arrange an event at the Old Spaghetti Company where the drawing was held. Funds raised that night paid back the loan with some leftover for the clubs. Click said the succontinued on page 118 >>> Winter 2024 > > > BizTucson 117

MARK IRVIN

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN AND JIM CLICK

JAN & ALAN LEVIN

continued from page 117 cess of that event led to more support from the community.

“We met at the Skyline Country Club and one of the board members spoke to us about the importance of the Boys & Girls Clubs and how they changed her life and gave her a place to go after school,” Click said. “That group all joined the board and we agreed we would do everything we could to put the Boys & Girls Clubs back on sound financial footing.”

For the kids Over the years, the list of supporters with long resumes in business and philanthropy in Tucson has grown to include Laurie Wetterschneider, Mark Irvin, Humberto Lopez, Todd Bisbocci, the Alan and Jan Levin Family, who were the 2023 Click for Kids Award honorees, and so many others who continue their support as board members, advisors and donors.

Their expertise in their own businesses and careers has been the catalyst for the many unique events and fundraisers supporting the organization through the years. Elliott, who now lives in San Antonio, Tex., supported the clubs for several years by putting his name on the annual Steak & Burger Dinner which is the annual awards event. Click has been a master auctioneer at events over the years in which he doesn’t take no for an answer.

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The late and legendary Lute Olson became a supporter of the clubs when he arrived in Tucson in 1983 to coach the University of Arizona basketball team. His name, with his wife Kelly’s,

“

I don’t think I would be where I’m at today if they weren’t there for me after school to give me the support and guidance and mentorship that I needed.

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– Jon Volpe Chairman & Owner NOVA Home Loans

helms the Party with a Purpose, an annual, invitation-only fundraiser held in November.

Lopez, a prominent developer and philanthropist, said attending Boys & Girls Clubs breakfasts where Olson, Click and other prominent Tucsonans were showing their support is how he got involved and has stayed so for 40 years.

“Jim Click was always there, and he was always very good at getting you involved and making sure you’ve made a sizable contribution,” Lopez said of those breakfasts in the 1980s.

Wetterschneider and Irvin joined the cause about the same time in 1990, coming from different directions with the same objective, to help kids who need help, mentoring and role models.

Both remain active with the organization.

Wetterschneider arrived in Tucson as a teenager, graduated from UArizona and ultimately dove into a career in radio and television. That led her to making community work a lifelong passion.

“I’m probably unusual in that I absolutely love asking for money,” Wetterschneider said. “For me, after having spent my career selling radio advertising, having the opportunity to do something on behalf of children in our community was just the most wonderful satisfying feeling to watch generations continued on page 120 >>> www.BizTucson.com

PHOTOS: COURTESY BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF TUCSON

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BizMILESTONE continued from page 118 of Tucson’s youth grow up and thrive thanks to Boys & Girls Clubs.”

Wetterschneider has been on the board of directors since 1990. When she was introduced to the Boys & Girls Clubs she said didn’t know much more than they helped kids.

“I knew they served a lot of children. I thought of it as a sports facility,” she said. “I didn’t realize the educational component that goes with it that is very strong.”

Clubs within the Clubs Similarly, Irvin, a commercial real estate broker, was attracted to the clubs more than 30 years ago by the idea of helping kids. Irvin has been one of the drivers of downtown revitalization as a member of the Rio Nuevo board of directors.

He arrived in Tucson in 1986 and took some time to establish his business before diving

into community work. When it came time to pick a cause, Boys & Girls Clubs was an easy choice, he said.

One of Irvin’s many ideas to help the clubs has been to develop incentive programs for fundraising, such as the Five Figure Club for board members who raise more than $10,000 in a year. That led to the formation of a Six Figure Club. Irvin said he also helped develop the Rookie of the Year award on the board.

“What’s cool about it is it’s something that I think never was on the board’s radar screen,” Irvin said of the fundraising awards.

Lopez said of the clubs: “I love what they’re doing.

They’ve been around for a long time and unless you’re doing something right, you’re not going to survive as many years as they’ve been around. It works and that’s why people like myself help out and contribute.”

MONTHLY VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Email volunteer@bgctucson.org or visit our website for more information www. bgctucson.org – Homework Help – Arts & Crafts – Games Room – Coaches, Scorekeepers & Referees

2024 EVENTS

For more information email events@bgctucson.org or visit our website.

February 2024 Cholla Foundation Golf Tournament March 2024 Swing for the Kids Pickleball Edition June 2024 Youth of the Year Celebration October 2024 HeArtWorks Art Show November 2024 Party with a Purpose

MAIN WEBSITE

VOLUNTEER

HOLIDAY CLUBHOUSE EVENTS

October 2024 – Halloween November 2024 – Thanksgiving December 2024 – Kohl’s Shopping Spree December 2024 – Holiday Parties

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For the Club Kids Donating from the Heart

It’s a seemingly simple question to ask the many donors who contribute the thousands of dollars that have added up to millions for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson − why?

While there are many answers, they come with a common thread from both longtime donors and new ones. It’s usually from the heart.

“All you have to do is walk into a Boys & Girls Club and you realize how important this is,” said Dr. Bill Neubauer, a substantial donor and a local surgeon with over 50 years in medicine. “You see a lot of happy kids.”

Some have old connections to the clubs, like Dale and Julie Butcher who supported the clubs in Greeley, Colo., before moving to Tucson where they’ve been supporters as well. Julie has been a board member, board president, and served a stint as interim CEO. A substitute teacher in an earlier life, Julie said she had an affinity for helping kids when the Butchers landed in Tucson. She was looking for a cause where she could make a difference, having also been a lifelong fundraiser before she got here.

It’s become more than a cause, she said.

“It’s become my second family, not only with the amazing club kids, but also with the board, the staff, everyone,” she said. “What we provide for kids, it’s just great to be a part of that and to be able to help serve so many children in our community.”

Along with giving their money, the many prominent donors are active in finding ways to raise money and also the best ways to use it.

Julie Butcher and longtime donor and supporter Laurie Wetterschneider helped start the Party with a Purpose that bears the name of Lute and Kelly Olson in the title. It’s an invitation-only dinner and auction that raised $50,000 122 BizTucson < < < Winter 2024

in its first year and pulled in $1 million the past two years with Jim Click and Edmund Marquez working the auction together.

As director of the Connie Hillman Foundation, Larry Adamson uses the foundation to challenge the Boys & Girls Clubs to seek new donors the foundation will match at $1 for every $2 they raise.

“What we’re trying to do is, not only do they get the Hillman Foundation money, but the challenge makes it easier for them to raise money, to go to their supporters and say, ‘We have this challenge would you help us out?’ ” Adamson said. “It’s typically for a major project or major activity.” He estimates the Hillman Foundation has donated about $700,000, meaning that $2.1 million has been raised through the foundation’s challenge.

“

All you have to do is walk into a Boys & Girls Club and you realize how important this is.

”

– Dr. Bill Neubauer Donor & Tucson Surgeon

Louise and Dale Henderson also had a connection to the Boys & Girls Clubs.

Their twin daughters, now 40, learned to swim at the clubs in Sarasota, Fla., and went on to swim in college, Louise said.

Dale is a University of Arizona graduate, which helped lead the Hendersons back to Tucson in 2013 and eventually put their support behind the Boys & Girls Clubs here. They decided on the organization the new-fashioned way, through internet research.

“We started looking at different organizations, online through philanthropic websites, etc. We kept coming back to the Boys and Girls Clubs,” Louise said.

After a meeting with the director at the time, the Hendersons made a five-year financial commitment, then started giving their time as well.

“It was so much fun,” Louise said.

“We met with high school kids plus some eighth graders. The club director would pick some kids that he thought would enjoy it.”

Last summer, Arizona Women’s Basketball Coach Adia Barnes announced the launch of the Adia Barnes Academy of Sports and Leadership at the Boys & Girls Clubs, which will provide teaching and mentoring for young girls.

Nike is also a partner.

Barnes started the funding for the program with a $100,000 donation.

She and her players will work directly with the girls in the academy.

“To just be able to collaborate with Nike and the Boys and Girls Clubs to create something special for girls is much-needed and long overdue,” Barnes said at a media event for the academy. “I envision creating future stars and leaders. It’s not all about basketball. It’s about flourishing in every single area.”

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PHOTOS: COURTESY BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF TUCSON

By Jay Gonzales

ADIA B

ARNE

K PRE S CHEC

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LOUISE AND DALE HENDERSON

JULIE BUTCHER

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Working Boards Make the Clubs Run Prominent Community Members Commit to the Kids

By Tom Leyde At 65, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson is at an age when people look to retire. That’s nowhere in the plans for the nonprofit organization. It’s moving quickly into the future.

Making that forward motion happen is the job of the board of directors, which includes some 60 members. The board is composed of three parts: the day-to-day working board, the senior board and the emeritus board.

“It’s a big number for the board that’s for sure,” said Denise Watters, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson.

Each of the three parts plays an important role in serving Tucson-area youth, ages 7 to 17. The board oversees the operation of six clubhouses.

“The board has depth of experience,” said Board President Mitch Sigsworth. “There are a lot of people. It’s amazing how generous people are.”

Sigsworth came to Tucson from San Diego in 2015 to run Cox Media. Cox Media, he said, is a national sponsor of Boys & Girls Clubs. It has donated all the technology to the clubs so they have high-speed internet. The company asked Sigsworth to fill a spot on the Tucson board.

“I saw its value − to help young people,” Sigsworth said.

The board meets monthly and has mixers every quarter. It hosts a number of events each year including the Cholla Foundation Golf Tournament, Swing for the Kids, the Lute & Kelly Olson Party with a Purpose and its largest event, the Youth of the Year awards 124 BizTucson < < < Winter 2024

banquet held each June at Casino del Sol. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson is constantly recruiting new members.

A potential member is sponsored by a current member, and the potential members are approved by the board.

“We try to fill specific (board) needs with representatives from different industries and community partners,” said Joe Gulotta, a retired assistant Tucson

“

We’re working very hard to have a diverse board that has the time and talent to support the mission.

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– Joe Gulotta Board Member Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson

Fire chief and president-elect of the board.

For instance, the Tucson police chief serves on the board, as does the Pima County sheriff. There also are representatives from the University of Arizona and Tucson Electric Power.

“We’re working very hard to have a diverse board that has the time and talent to support the mission,,” Gulotta said.

Governance and fundraising are the main board focuses, said board member Tom Robertson. Robertson retired in Tucson in 1991 after serving 20 years in the Air Force and attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

“Historically, we try to have engaged and interesting and influential people on the board,” Robertson said.

His wife Cindy became a board member in 1992. Robertson joined the board in 2008 and is a past president.

In 2010, Cindy started Heartworks, an art program for Boys & Girls Clubs members. “It’s really fantastic and unique,” Robertson said. In 2020, she received an award from the clubs for her efforts.

Susan Gray, president & CEO of UNS Energy Corp. the parent of Tucson Electric Power, became a board member and remains involved because it affords kids opportunities and experiences that were more available to her as a youth than they are to kids at the clubs.

“I lived a life in which there continued on page 126 >>> www.BizTucson.com

PHOTO: BRENT G. MATHIS

From left – Julie Trujillo, Director of Clubhouse Operations; Jose Quijada, Director of Facilities; Tola Barker, Human Resource Business Partner; Denise Watters, Chief Executive Officer, Adam Begody,Chief Development & Marketing Officer Kids from left – Ezra (red shirt, smiling); Micah (purple shirt w/ glasses); Treyce (red shirt , no smile); Jai (blue shirt glasses); Liam (grey shirt blue jeans); Abel (eyes closed); Michael www.BizTucson.com

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MITCH SIGSWORTH continued from page 124 were no limits to what I thought I could achieve. We know not every child has that experience,” Gray said.

“The Clubs help position young people to accomplish great things by inspiring a vision of what’s possible whether that’s going to college or learning a skilled trade. We want them to see the potential that exists and then provide the confidence and support to help them get there.”

A good board requires good team members. No one knows that more

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CINDY & TOM ROBERTSON

SUSAN GRAY

than Joan Bonvincini, a retired women’s basketball coach at the University of Arizona, Long Beach State and Seattle University. She has been a board member for 17 years and currently serves as the board secretary.

“You need good players,” Bonvicini said. “It’s about getting good people and it’s the same thing on the board.

“Our board people are of high character and people who believe in the mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs and are utilizing their talents,” Bonvicini said.

Bonvicini was a Boys & Girls Clubs

member growing up in Connecticut.

She learned to swim at the clubs and attended summer camp.

This year marks Jana Westerbeke’s 20th year as a board member. She is the co-owner of Gadabout Salon Spas in Tucson with her husband Frank. Her mother Pamela McNair Wingate, Gadabout’s founder, inspired her to connect with the Boys & Girls Clubs.

“She always loved the Boys & Girls Clubs because it works to create the next generation of leaders,” Westerbeke said. “I love every minute of it.”

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JOAN BONVINCINI

JANA WESTERBEKE

DEBBIE WAGNER

Five years ago, Westerbeke and her mother received the Click for Kids Award, the highest award of thanks the group bestows on individuals or businesses annually. Westerbeke thinks the present board remains solid and is doing well.

“Today, I think we’re in a really good place with Denise (Watters),” she said.

“She really walks the talk.”

Watters was named CEO in 2022 after serving as interim CEO in 2021.

Originally from Washington, D.C., Watters moved to Tucson in 2018.

She has a background in organizational leadership, strategic planning, growth strategy and philanthropy. She has been an executive at national and international companies, including a Fortune 50 company, a law firm, a public relations firm, a financial consulting firm and small, medium and large government contractors.

“The board was very focused during COVID on keeping the clubs open and available, a testament to the hard work and dedication of our former CEO, Debbie Wagner,” Watters said, noting

its importance to continue the impact the clubs have on community youth.

Clubs were open a full day during the pandemic because Banner Health wanted a place for children of first responders and essential workers to go.

As for new board members, Watters said, “We look for prominent people committed to the mission and who know how to fundraise. I’m always looking for people and meeting (potential) members. I think we are always recruiting,” she said.

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A Vision for Growth New Funding, New Ideas Mean More Impact

By Tom Leyde Underserved youth in Southern Arizona will continue to have more opportunities to grow and prosper through the long-term vision of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson.

The organization, which is celebrating its 65th year, has plans to add several more clubhouses, acquiring more federal and state grants and adding programs, including a technology learning and workforce readiness center. CEO Denise Watters attributes the continued success and growth in large part to her staff.

“At the Club level, our staff play a pivotal role in providing mentorship, guidance and a positive environment fostering the personal and academic development of the youth we serve,” said Watters. “On the admin side, our strategic planning and support through federal, state and private grants ensure the effective implementation of programs, contributing to the organization’s overarching mission to empower young individuals.”

National partnerships through the Boys & Girls Clubs of America supports club operations which helps take the pressure off local fundraising, Watters said.

“We have gotten some good help from larger, national partners,” she said, citing NASCAR, Panda Express, TacoBocci, UPS, Cox, Comcast and New York Life. “We are getting some great national attention working with teens for workforce readiness.”

Watters said the clubs are looking to partner with Pima Community College so teens can earn college credits during their junior and senior years in high school which will help them easily enter work certificate programs the college offers.

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center, those students will be able to accomplish some base level skills that can transfer to certificates and programs at the college, and they can move on to jobs,” said Marcy Euler, president & CEO of the Pima Foundation.

“We have really opened kids’ eyes because of the mentoring and leadership and passion that is in the clubhouses,” Watters added. “We want to help kids realize their dreams.”

Work is continuing on making the Holmes Tuttle Clubhouse on 36th Street a teen tech and workforce readiness center. It’s expected to be completed by fall 2024, Watters said.

The organization also is working with corporations on programs that will help prepare club kids for jobs and getting

“

The bottom line is clubs in area neighborhoods do whatever it takes to help kids have a great future.

”

– Jim Clark President & CEO Boys & Girls Clubs of America

staff on board for the readiness center.

Watters said the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson has worked with law enforcement and the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona to determine where the next four future clubhouses should be established. One will be in the Amphitheater and Flowing Wells area, and is expected to be operational in about three years.

“Thanks to our partnership with local law enforcement, we know there are roughly 40,000 kids in Tucson who fall within the 7-17 age range that we still haven’t reached,” Watters said. “Our six clubhouse locations are situated in some of the more dangerous communities in our city, but we’re also talking to Tucson Unified School District about opening in schools that are vacant, which includes the possibility of a club on the east side.

“The needs of our youth keep growing so we are always looking for new donors, partners, and fundraising opportunities to make sure the needs of our youth are met year after year.”

TUSD also is stepping up to help the clubs. Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo has pledged $30,000 in auxiliary funds to pay the annual club dues of district students who attend clubhouses and can’t afford the fee. The dues are $20 per school year. Even though there’s a fee to join the clubs, no one is turned away.

“I see a future of expansion under CEO Watters,” Trujillo said. “Having clubhouses focus more on digital literacy and workforce preparedness, I think, is a visionary strategy on the part of Ms. Watters.”

The Tucson clubs’ anniversary has caught the attention of Jim Clark, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. continued on page 130 >>> www.BizTucson.com

Denise Watters – CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson, pictured with Club Kids at the Frank &

PHOTO: BRENT G. MATHIS

Edith Morton Clubhouse

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GABRIEL TRUJILLO

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things happen. They’re more likely to graduate from high school and more likely to go on to college.”

“The bottom line is clubs in area neighborhoods do whatever it takes to help kids have a great future,” Clark said. “We work to do whatever it takes to do what every kid needs.”

The future for Boys & Girls Clubs, Clark said, is bright thanks to their programs and the caring adults that work with kids.

Todd Bisbocci, owner of TacoBocci, which operates local Taco Bells, has been a board member for seven years and is a Boys & Girls Clubs alum. He said it’s impossible to overstate the impact clubs have had on Tucson youth.

“The Boys & Girls Clubs have been an integral part of my life and are a big part of the person I am today,” he said.

“The youth we serve are future leaders and the hope is that our work changes the lives of kids who need us most.”

continued from page 128 “We’re excited to participate in the celebration of the 65th anniversary of Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson,” Clark said. “The clubs are an anchor in every community that we serve.”

This year, Boys & Girls Clubs of America opened its 5,000th club in Elgin, Ill. “For many young people, this is their home away from home and a home for some,” Clark said. “When kids have an experience in Boys & Girls Clubs, they get more physical education and good

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