The Boys & Girls Club of Chico was founded in 1993 by a small group of concerned citizens dedicated to ensuring that all young people in the community had access to a safe and positive place to go in the critical after-school hours. The doors of the Boys & Girls Club opened on July 5^th 1995 in a small cinderblock building leased to the organization for $1 a year by the City of Chico on the corner of Sixth & Wall Streets in downtown Chico. Soon the club was bursting at the seams and had a waiting list of over 200 youth. It was then that the board began to fulfill its dream of building a downtown Campus For Kids by launching a community fundraising drive. 

 

With the support of the community and funding provided by the City of Chico, the S.H. Cowell Foundation, the Sierra Health Foundation the club raised over $3million to build a 40,000 square foot campus that includes the Ostrander Clubhouse for elementary school-age youth, a teen center for middle and high school students, the Nettleton Gymnasium, a large outdoor play area and the Chico Rotary Plaza which was built over the site of Wall Street.

 

The Boys & Girls Club of Chico now serves over 250 youth daily at the downtown Campus.

 

 

Community support is critical to the vibrant sustainability of the Boys & Girls Club. Annual donations from local businesses, organizations and individuals are the lifeblood of the organization.   Local volunteers and help from community organizations make it possible for the club to offer a wide ranging variety of activities and opportunities for our members. Volunteers bring unique and special skills to share with our young people such as: sewing, cooking, knitting, martial arts and gardening. College students and interns work with our youth and provide academic assistance, tutoring, dance and music programs and help to reinforce the message and important of higher education. 

 

Our annual fundraisers – Valentines Gala and Links Golf Tournament – also help to raise funds necessary to keep our fees low to our members so that no child is ever turned away due to economic circumstances.

 

 

The Boys & Girls Club relies on its partnerships with many local businesses, organizations and charitable groups to provide a comprehensive youth development program for its members. Funding the club would not be possible without critical partnership such as:

·        Chico Unified School District

·        Butte County Probation Department

·        Butte County Private Industry Council

 

Other community groups and organization provide much-needed volunteers:

·        California State University, Chico

·        Associated Student Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE)

·        University of Phoenix

·        National Charity League

·        Chico Rotary Club

·        Lions Club

 

 

 Chico Community Leadership Board

 

Chris Bonacorsi - Matson and Isom Accountancy

Sage Bowman - Nantucket
Susan Critchfield - Reired; Chico Enterprise-Record

Michael Hicks - Clifford’s Jewelery

Troy Kidd - US Bank

Kevin Murray - Murray Financial Services

Gentry Power - Bidwell Perk

Susan Randolph - Umpqua Bank