Upper left (l to r) Pat Dougherty, Eric Nelte, Alivia Garcia (YoY candidate), RoseMary Pellegrino, Marty Peters; Upper right (l to r): BGCNSD CEO Marineke Vandervort, Jim Watkins, KC Vafiadis; Lower left (l to r): Stephanie Fletcher, Joe Harper, KC Vafiadis; Lower right: Kit Leeger
Member Joe McLeod gave an update on the recent merger between Boys & Girls Club (BGC) of San Dieguito, of which he is Chief Operating Officer, and the BGC of Oceanside to form BGC of Northwest San Diego. The merger expands the impact by improving existing services, increasing accesses, streamlining processes to reduce costs while serving a greater number of youth in northern San Diego county.
Joe also gave an overview of the history of the BGC of San Dieguito, a history that involves the Rotary Club of Del Mar, whose members built the Del Mar clubhouse on Mango drive in 1985. Since its founding in 1966, grew from a single clubhouse to seven, and with the recent merger there are now eight clubhouses serving 16,500 youth annually. BGC of San Dieguito was at the forefront of including girls among the youth served, with girls invited to join in 1973, nearly 20 years before the nationwide name change from Boys Clubs of America to Boys & Girls Club of America.
The organization is supported by its Foundation, which includes on its Board club members Pat Dougherty, Eric Nelte, RoseMary Pellegrino, Jim Watkins, and Monty Woolley. Recently BGC Northwest San Diego held its annual Youth of the Year Celebration, which raises funds to support different programs, and honors BGC members who made outstanding achievements in leadership, service and academics. This year’s Youth of the Year is Allisa Berber, who grew up in the La Colonia & Harper Clubhouses in Solana Beach and served as a Summer Camp program leader. Allisa will represent BGC of Northwest San Diego in the regional competition as part of the national Youth of the Year award for Boys & Girls Club of America.