On June 16, the boys and girls chosen as “Youth of the Year” winners from each of our seventeen sites were recognized at the annual Golden Achievement Awards Dinner held at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. This year’s Awards Dinner was held in honor of Ed and Sandy Burr of EDCO and their significant contributions, dedication and support to our community. We are very grateful for their involvement and thank them for their participation in making this event a great success!

Each youth was nominated and selected by staff members for their active involvement at their clubs and their exceptional behavior. The award winner’s were able to invite their parents and a staff member to join in the celebration with them as they were treated to a night of fun, food and entertainment. They enjoyed an appetizer hour, a sit down dinner, and on-stage recognition for their personal contributions to their clubs.

The night was a success on many levels as it brought well deserved attention to our club members, raised valuable funds for the operation of our clubs, and gave light to the outstanding youth and adults who are dedicated to making a difference. If you were able to attend, you know how much fun the event was! If not, we would love to see you join us next year as we pay tribute to those who are investing in our community, and the boys and girls who are utilizing your gracious donations and achieving success!

On April 23rd, The Billy Casper Golf Cup & Corporate Cup Challenge took place at the San Diego Country Club. The tournament was very successful with many prizes given away and a generous amount of money donated towards the Billy Casper Youth Foundation. As a beneficiary, The Boys & Girls Clubs of San Diego received a wonderful gift of $20,000 of the proceeds that came in that day. We would like to extend a special thanks to Billy Casper for making a difference in our members' lives.

Many children in San Diego County are getting the opportunity to have the ultimate summer due to our outstanding Summer Camp program. Summer Camp is a valuable resource for members to have a safe place to go while they are on break from school where they can have fun and keep learning. So many children come from homes where their parents work in the summer, leaving the children home alone. Summer Camp allows kids to spend all day, from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, in our clubs under the supervision of trained staff.

Kids have the opportunity to participate in organized games, arts and crafts, special events, and even a weekly field trip. Once a week, club members have the privilege to go to places like the beach, movie theaters, baseball games, roller rinks and many other exciting places. Our middle school aged members have the opportunity to be involved in our summer Adventure Club, which allows them the same opportunities and services as the Summer Camp with the addition of taking a field trip three or four times a week rather than once. Club members are also provided with a free lunch and snack everyday at selected branches. “ Day camp provides our kids professional staff that care and plan wonderful daily programs that engage the children in a fun and safe environment that also enables them to interact with their peers in a positive way.” said Mitchell Branch Site Supervisor, Chris Endris. This program is a valuable resource for the children of our community. It allows them to take part in fun activities and keeps them out of harm’s way during their summer vacation.

Club members were gathered together from all sites to compete in the annual Summer Games on July 27, at the 4S Ranch Branch. Members ranging from ages 9-17 were able to participate in four areas of play; swimming, track and field, indoor soccer and basketball. After the event, the children were shown a movie and then awards were given out to the winners.

In August Borders teamed up with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego to promote literacy and give books to children in need throughout the San Diego area by hosting a month-long book drive. Pictured to left are Club members at the Borders in Carmel Mountain. The Padres friar and a "Pad Squad" member attended the event and read to our Club members.

Customers in San Diego, Carlsbad and El Cajon can donated books to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego and the children they serve. To assist customers with finding the right books to donate, Borders and Waldenbooks, with the help of the Boys & Girls Clubs, will select and design in-store displays full of children's books, such as books written by Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein and Beverly Cleary, from which customers can choose. Customers can simply pick books from the book drive display, take them to the registers and let the cashier know that they would like to donate them. Customers are also welcome to choose their favorite age appropriate children or young adult book and donate that as well. Borders and Waldenbooks will then give the books to the Boys & Girls Clubs. The book drive is set to end August 31.

In addition to offering its store as a gathering place for customer donations, Borders and Waldenbooks in the San Diego area donated five percent of its total sales from the purchase of the books donated by its customers between August 1 and August 31 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego. The Club will then use these funds to support reading and education programs.

"We are very excited to work with the Boys & Girls Clubs for this book drive," said Beth O'Connor, sales and marketing manager for Borders and Waldenbooks. "Literacy is a cause near and dear to us and as a bookstore, we embrace our role as a contributing member of the community. We believe that every child in need should experience the joy of owning their own book, to aid in the development of their imagination and open up new worlds for them." "As part of this community, we want to do what we can to make sure that the children in this area have the tools necessary to shape and define their lives and to help guide them when deciding whom they aspire to be. We feel that reading books certainly helps with this," O'Connor added.

"Partnering with Borders and Waldenbooks is a great opportunity for the Club. As everyone knows, reading is a fundamental skill for academic success. The key to getting kids to read more is to provide them with books that are fun and interesting to them. This book drive will certainly do that. We are very excited that we were chosen as the recipients of this drive," said Michelle Malin, Vice President of Operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs.

TThere are many children within the Boys & Girls Clubs who have difficult life situations, yet have incredibly cheery dispositions when at their clubs and we are happy to provide a place for them participate in activities, meet new friends, learn, and have fun! This is the brief story of one of the exceptional members of Escondido's Baker Branch whose positive attitude is influencing everyone he meets.

Lucas is a 7th grader at Del Dios Middle School and lives in one of the houses behind the Baker Branch. His first time coming to the club was at the end of last school year with one of his friends. He had so much fun he became a member, finishing out last summer by participating our Adventure Club program!

"As I see him in program, he always has a friendly comment and waves as he passes. He is always friendly to everyone," said Baker Branch Site Supervisor, Michelle Endris. Along with his great attitude, Lucas has become a leader and is very involved and influential at the Baker Branch. He enjoys playing football, creating art projects and working on the computers. We recently recognized Lucas for one of his the biggest accomplishments as he was selected as the Baker Branch's Youth of the Year. Lucas is one of the inspiring success stories from the Greater San Diego Boys & Girls Clubs, and we are proud to tell you about him.