GREENE COUNTY
The largest nonprofit organization in Greensboro, the Pete Nance Boys & Girls Club, is poised in the new year to bring awareness and growth to its organization.
The club serves youth in a new facility that features a gym, learning labs, afterschool care, and mentoring programs for 150 members.
Chuck Rowland is the organization’s new board chair and takes his position with the care and exuberance one would expect leading a nonprofit board and directing fundraising initiatives for the club.
A new-year kickoff meeting outlined the fundraising events for the year and established goals for ongoing fiscal development. Rowland is also the vice president of the Thillen Education Foundation, which has provided nearly $1 million in funding to support area students with their career goals.
“The Boys & Girls Club is an organization I and many can get behind,” he said. “It encourages youth to aspire to be the best they can be as students, sons and daughters, young adults, and more.
We design our programs to best meet the needs of these kids on a continuous basis.”
The Boys & Girls Club, a national organization, serves to enhance the education and development of those in its programs. It aims to provide an experience that assures success is within easy reach of every young person that enters its doors to keep on track to graduate at the nation’s high schools with an individualized plan.
It promotes planning for the future, demonstrating good character and citizenship, and living a healthy lifestyle.
There are 36 Boys & Girls Clubs organizations and 140 clubs in the state of Georgia alone.
Combined, the Georgia Boys & Girls Clubs employ more than 3,000 individuals, earn more than $344 million in revenue each year, and have assets of more than $500 million. These funds go to support the operations, programs, maintenance, salaries, learning labs, and recreational opportunities.
Stacy McClendon is the Pete Nance Boys & Girls Club’s director. Primarily leading and managing the organization, McCledon has sought to increase membership at the new Greensboro location.
He, along with others in the organization, has brought in corporate sponsors such as local Novelis and A2B Fulfillment. Novelis underwrote the cost of the club’s learning lab, which features sophisticated technology learning modules for club members.
Community engagement continues to be a focus of the new year beyond two major fundraising events.
Partnering with local schools, parent outreach efforts, hosting kids' events, and ties with local businesses, bring and support awareness and involvement.
Many events have been planned for the year and including the organization’s popular “Evening With Art” scheduled for Oct. 14 this year.
A new event, “BBQ Bash,” to be held June 17 at the Farm at Oconee off Carey Station Road, will feature both professional and amateur cooks vying for the winner of the best barbeque this side of Georgia. The event will also feature food trucks and live entertainment for attendees.