Dear Parents:

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Fullerton is the community leader in youth development. The Club offers a safe environment and more than 100 quality value-programs to interest and enrich your child. Our professional staff and volunteers assure that your child is safe during the crucial after-school hours when youth are most at risk to become a victim of crime or to participate in risky behaviors.

We want you to rest assured that while your child is with us, he or she will be in a safe, friendly and productive environment under the watchful eye of a dedicated staff!

If you have any questions, please call one of the Clubs listed below:

Commonwealth Main Branch

348 W. Commonwealth Avenue Fullerton, CA 92836
714-871-1391

Transportation

Richman Branch
410 S. Richman Avenue Fullerton, CA 92832
714-992-2933

East Fullerton

Commonwealth School Branch
2200 E. Commonwealth Avenue Fullerton, CA 92831
714-871-5428

West Fullerton

Valencia Park Branch
2435 W. Valencia Drive Fullerton, CA, 92833
714-992-1912

 

The Youth Development Strategy This is the secret recipe of all things Boys & Girls Club. Without it, much of what we do gets lost in the mix. The strategy, taught as BUIC, stands for Belonging, Usefulness, Influence and Competence.

Belonging – Every kid wants to belong. Belonging takes many forms such as having a membership card. National spokesman Denzel Washington still has his original Boys Club membership card. It helped him belong. Another great way to feel like you belong is if people know your name. Imagine walking into a room full of people and nobody called you by name the entire time you stayed. Take the same situation but this time everyone knows your name. One little difference like that changes the outcome entirely. Learn the names of the kids in your neighborhood. You will be surprised at the effect this will have. Give it a try and stay tuned for more updates!

Usefullness - Did you ever ask your parents if you could help them as a child? Part of the Youth Development Strategy is to help kids feel useful. Our programs have this element hard-wired into them so each member can feel like they are contributing! From the president of a club, to helping serve lunches to having kids design gifts for donors. We work very hard to help kids feel they are useful at the Club. Take the time to find things for your kids to help with! Even little jobs can make all the difference to a child. The idea that we couldn't do our jobs without the help of Club members is very empowering to a child!

Power or Influence - Every child has the desire to effect change. If they do not have the opportunity to do so in a positive and constructive way, they will find their own ways to do so and it won't always be a positive thing. Make sure to offer children ways to influence their world, be it choosing what to do for a day off, deciding what rules to play a game by, or deciding to have pancakes and eggs for dinner. At the Boys & Girls Club, we offer kids the chance to have influence by offering choices during the day. In a vacuum, kids have the freedom of choice when they come to the Club, meaning within our warm and friendly environment, kids can choose between a wide variety of activities and programs from one of 5 core program areas: The Arts, Character and Leadership Devleopment, Education and Career Development, Sports Fitness and Recreation and Health and Life Skills.

Competence - Every child wants and desires to be good at something. To have have a skill set or talent that seperates them from the pack, be it running fast, being able to change a car tire, to reformatting a hard drive, to wiggling thier ears; kids crave the ability to do things. It is our job to find out what drives a child. Take a look at children you know and find things they like and have interest in and do everything in your power to enable them to learn and practice what they like and in no time, they will feel empowed and that feeling will rub off on everything they do! The joy of working with young people is to see the spark in their eye and them running with it!