On January 29th, 2011, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast will be celebrating 51 years of accomplishments during their annual gala “Be Groovy Too” at the Sirata Beach Resort, St. Pete Beach. This year’s gala will honor not only the history of the organization and the children who have been touched by the non-profit, but also Carl Lavender, the President and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast. Lavender is set to retire after 10 years of service regionally, and 35 years of total employment by the Boys & Girls Clubs.
Lavender began his career in Columbus, Ohio, where he served for almost 10 years before being promoted and moving to Chicago, IL where he continued for 15 years. In Chicago, Lavender was responsible for opening the James Jordan Boys & Girls Club, the first club named after basketball legend Michael Jordan’s family. He again was promoted and took over the leadership in Pinellas County in 1999.
Lavender’s accomplishments as the President and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast include:
· Growing the organization from three facilities serving 500 youth annually to eleven facilities serving 5,500 youth annually.
· Opening the Royal Theatre Arts Academy Boys & Girls Club in mid-town St. Petersburg. The Royal Theatre was the first Boys & Girls Club designated strictly to the arts, gaining national praise and attention.
· Championing the first Boys & Girls Club serving special needs children located on the PARC campus.
· Fixing up the properties owned by the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast
· Opening one of the first Empowered Teen Centers – a program which allows teens to own and operate their own space within a Boys & Girls Clubs facility
· Seeing two alumni become Presidential Scholars, with one of them going on to become a Rhodes Scholar and adjunct professor at Oxford University.
Sheriff Jim Coats, a long-standing Corporate Board Member, said “I have been privileged to work with Carl for the past 10 years as he has transformed our Clubs from a more traditional ‘Club’ culture to a multifaceted service organization, providing the youth of Pinellas County facilities and programs in the arts, sports, education and leadership development. This is crime prevention at its best!”
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast will celebrate these and other accomplishments during their annual gala, the BE GROOVY TOO Event Fundraiser on January 29th at the Sirata Beach Resort St. Petersburg Beach from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Those interested must contact Carla Mattern at (727)-524-2427x17.
About the Boys & Girls Club of the Suncoast:
The Boys & Girls Clubs of America movement came to Pinellas County in November 1959 with the founding of the Boys Club of Pinellas Park by Police Chief Maurice L. MacTarsney and Margret “Peg” Nunn. The Club began operating in January 1960 in an old frame building leased from the City of Pinellas Park with its first executive director, James S Hart Jr. The Boys Clubs of Pinellas, Inc. was chartered in August 1967 when its second club opened at the Northside location in St. Petersburg. In May 1970, at the urging of both the United Way and the Boys Clubs of America, the Boys Clubs of Pinellas County, Inc. was organized. In 1991, the Boys Clubs of Pinellas County opened its programs to all youth, forming Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast (BGCS), as we know it today, now with eleven locations. BGCS, under the leadership of Carl R. Lavender, Jr. has the goal “to influence the behavior and the attitudes of each individual boy and girl in a wholesome manner.” The sole purpose of BGCS is to provide children, youth, their families and the community opportunities for safe, structured, well supervised after school and summer youth programs, with an emphasis on leadership, education and self sufficiency. The organization has proven its commitment to service for children and community members with innovative and progressive programming and opportunities. Supporters of Boys & Girls Clubs include government politicians, law enforcement agency representatives, financial institutions, and education boards, among other concerned citizens. To find out more or to help, visit www.bgcsuncoast.org.
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