All right, friends, we're kicking off the program with a little kazoo parade. You might notice you have
some kazoos on your table. If you would like to join in at your table, you're welcome to, but our kids
are going to come in and do a little kazooing for us. You might recognize the song, but we'll see how
this goes.
Can we get a cheer for our kazoo paraders? Well, welcome to Eat, Thank, Love Luncheon Boys and Girls
Club family. We are so happy you are here with us.
I'm Leslie Absher, I'm the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington, and I am thrilled to be able
to invite you today to Eat, Thank, Love. This is my favorite club day of the year. And if you haven't
noticed, we like to have a little fun around here. We're the Boys and Girls Club, so we really had a
good time with that kazoo parade, and part of also why we did that kazoo parade, if you'll put that
picture back up if you can, but we used to do kazoo parades in the 4th of July parade, and this is our
70th year anniversary. We opened our doors in 1956.
year we are celebrating 70 years in Bloomington and so you're gonna see a lot of throwback and a lot
of yeah excellent I love that we want to we want to honor our history we want to recognize our history
and we want to celebrate our history and we want to remember what makes the Boys and Girls Club so great
and that is all of you you all are part of that and so we were excited to do our kazoo parade and you
might see us
kazoo parading throughout the community the rest of this year. You'll just have to see. I also want
to direct your attention to the screen for the next slide. There's an old membership card up on the
screen. For decades, every child who came to the club has gotten a similar card. This one belonged to
a dear friend of mine and one of the best supporters of the club that I have ever had the privilege
of knowing, Jack Eads. It has the name Jackie Eads on it. It was his childhood nickname and his age.
He was six.
Jack passed away in 2023 at 70 years old. And all those years, he kept this card. I've got it in my
office. The club meant the world to Jack. And for so many kids over 70 years, the club has meant and
does mean the world to them too. And you, whether this is your first time with us or you've been donating
for most of those 70 years, you provide the support needed to bring the club and the kids in our community
like little Jackie Eads
the programming that they need. If you look at your table, you should see a small gift waiting for you.
It's a replica of this very membership card. And today, this membership card is for you. Whether you've
donated or volunteered or partnered with us or simply believe in our mission and are here to learn a
little more about it, we invite you now to be part of the Boys and Girls Club legacy and the history
of what makes this organization so great. There's a pin on it that is a replica of that exact pin just what
a little updated logo, but we'll invite you to wear that pin and to show it off around town and help
us to celebrate the 70 years of Boys and Girls Clubs that we have been able to have over our time. Since
we're celebrating our birthday, you might have been able to tell they were singing Happy Birthday on
the kazoos, maybe not. That was a little hard to coordinate with a parade, but that was what we attempted.
So since it's our birthday, we also want you to join our newly formed birthday club.
You can scan the QR code in your program. Don't worry, you don't need to give us the year. You can turn
39 as many times as you want. We just need the month and the day from you so that we can send you a
little gift on your birthday. The kids would be happy to send you a little prize for your birthday.
So we would love for you to join our birthday club. The club is a gift, just like all of you, to this
great community. And so today we're going to celebrate that. We're going to celebrate the past, and
we're going to look forward to the future and what lies ahead.
Before I go any further today, I have some thank yous to do. We know that when you donate to the club,
you want most of that money, or if not all of that money, to go directly to kids and programs. And so
we pride ourselves on not spending your money that you donated to thank you for donating. So most of
this was donated to us, and it didn't cost us anything to put this event on today. And that is only
possible because of some wonderful people. So I'm going to thank them this morning. So Buffalo Louise
and Gables Bagels, Ed and Jamie Schwartzman, can we get a round of applause for the Schwartzman?
So Ed was a past board member and Jamie's a past auxiliary member and we love Nathan and Nancy and James
and the whole crew over there at Buffalo Louie is a really like family to us. And they donated all of
this food at no charge. So another little round of applause. That's a big donation. Thank you so much.
It's awesome.
We want to say thank you to Verona Coffee. As you can tell, I come fully leaded all the time. This cup
rarely leaves my hand. So I am very thankful for Hillary and Verona Coffee for donating the coffee today.
So round of applause for Verona Coffee and Hillary Elliott.
For dessert today, we want to say thank you to Windmill Farm Sweets. Brandi Hamilton is our Owen County
Community Director. She works at the club and she also happens to be an exceptional baker. She has this
business and she donated all of our sweets today. Thanks, Brandi.
Master Rental, Darren Lavin's a good friend of ours, also a past board member. Darren sponsors all of
our events and donates all of these rentals. Again, a huge gift that helps us to make sure every dollar
goes to kids and families. So a round of applause for Master Rental. Thank you so much for your generosity.
And then Marquis Rental and Staging, they make us look and sound good. They discount services for us
and help us by supporting us and sponsoring us throughout the years. So thank you to Zach and the whole
crew over there. Please give a round of applause for Marquis Rental and Staging.
Some final thank yous today are Pizza Express for donating pizza for all of those kiddos you saw in
our parade. The fire department always comes and helps us set up and tear down tables. That's been a
long-standing tradition for a lot of times that Lee Chapman knows. We really appreciate it. They come
in here and get it done. Thank you to Go Express Travel for helping us parking down here. We know it's
tough, and so we appreciate that that shuttle is donated to us from Go Express Travel for all of our
events. They cover that cost. And the convention center for letting us use their lot. So round of applause
for all of those folks today.
And before we move forward, there is another group that I want to thank and remember. This year, there
were many dear to the club family that passed away. Tom Atkinson, Lee Marchant, Ellie Rank, Bill Fromer,
Joyce Grandorf, Ken Nunn, Pat Baldwin, Barry Leso, Tom Schwant, Gail Cook, Charlotte Zitlow, and others.
We are so thankful to have known them. We're so thankful to have been impacted by them and their generosity
over a lifetime. The club kids benefited more from these individuals than they will ever know. They
had a huge impact on our lives and the lives of the kids that we serve. And before we move forward,
I would love to just take a moment of silence to remember and honor them.
you for taking the time. It's really about people. It's about relationships. That's what makes everything
go. It's what makes the world go round. And you'll hear a lot of that today. What impact you all have
allowed us to have and the people that we work with have allowed us to have in Bloomington. We ate,
and hopefully you're still eating a little bit. We thanked, which we'll continue to do. And now we want
to show a little love. We want to show love to a group that I get to have the privilege of working with
every single day.
We have 36 full-time professional staff. They are administrators, they're fundraisers, they're youth
advocates, educators, mentors, safety specialists, masters of fun, and these people really make the
magic of the club come alive. Very thankful for these people, and I would love for them to stand right
now and be recognized. Club staff, stand up.
As you can tell, it takes a lot of people.
to get done what it is that we do. And I'm so thankful for this group. They work hard every single day.
It is a joy and a privilege to lead this team. They're really the best there is. And you saw them all.
They're in their merch t-shirts, their new throwback Boys and Girls Club t-shirts. And so for our 70
year anniversary, we are excited to be launching our new merch store. So you'll see this torch logo
that's on their t-shirts. This was like the original Boys Club logo. It's also back in the back of the
gym, really big on the wall. All kinds of places you'll see this. But this reminds us that we are passing
the torch to the future generation,
those that will come after us. And so we're excited to honor that legacy and we're excited to launch
this store today. So you have a QR code and you have shopbgc.org in your program.
And you'll get a discount code if you use that before the end of February. So get 15% off. And there's
some merchandise we're launching today, but we're going to continue to add to this store. And of course,
all the proceeds will go to the club. So you'll help us to spread the good word about what's happening
at the club and the community. And we'll make a little money off of it as well. And it'll be just a
great win-win for us. So please check out that store today or after you leave and take that program
with you so that you can look at it.
You're going to see a lot of things showcased today. You're going to hear about numbers. You're going
to hear about growth. You're going to hear about our buildings. And you're going to hear from kids as
well. We run over 100 specialty programs in our club. And you're going to see just some of those showcased.
One of our programs that we have at all of our clubs is photography. So our photography club kids wave
at us in the back. They're back there. These are our Lincoln Street photography club kids from the teen group.
And thanks to David and Martha Moore and the Farr Center for Contemporary Arts, we have cameras at all
of our clubs, and our photography club is funded really well, and we're able to teach kids about photography.
And so they're back there at the photo booth, so on your way out, if you've got time, stop back there
and get your photo taken, and watch for the photography from our kids coming out in the next few days.
So we're thankful to have them back there.
The next thing I want to talk about is our annual report. So you'll get a lot of information today.
I hope you remember every single thing that we say, but we know that you won't, and so it's all right.
We've got an annual report where you can see all of it. You can scan the QR code for our annual report
or go to our website. It's also in the program. And we will have paper copies, too, if you prefer a
paper copy. But we love to be able to give you a little more detail and share the stories about what
it is that you have all helped us do and the success that you have helped us have throughout the year.
So thank you for that.
We've had lots of success this year, and I want to share a little bit about, well, we'll start with
the kids, because that's what we're here to talk about. This past year, we served more kids than ever
before. More kids than ever before. 3,217 kids were registered club members in 2025. That is 941 more
kids than last year.
That's a lot more kids. That's our goal, to serve all the kids who need us most. And we're going to
continue to hear the theme of growth throughout the year. On any given day, across our now six club
sites, we had as many as 708 kids rely on the club each and every day, which is about 45 more kids every
day than we had last year. So huge numbers we're seeing. The need is great, and you are allowing us
to rise to meet it. We serve children ages 5 to 18, school-age kids.
In this past year, that included 415 teenagers navigating some of the most important and challenging
years of their lives. We served kids from 32 schools across Monroe and Owen counties. With food partners
like Community Kitchen and Hoosierfield's Food Bank, we provided 62,184 meals and snacks. We feed kids
every single day, and we could not do it without those partners.
We are the second largest daily food provider to kids in Monroe County behind only the school systems.
We supported 503 kids during fall and spring break when school was out, but the need for high quality
programming and engagement did not stop. And the same goes for summer when we had 2,787 kids registered
this past summer. We open our doors for 10 weeks at 7 AM and we do not close them until 7 PM. So we
are here all day with kids during the summer because kids need us then.
They need to be enriched and they need to remember some of the stuff they learned in school. So when
they hit it in the fall, they haven't forgotten it all. They need to have fun. They need to play. They
need to get outside. They need to interact with each other. And families need the child's care at low
or no cost over the summer. And so we are thankful to be able to provide that because of all of you.
Accessibility is at the heart of everything we do. None of this is free. It all costs money. But we
don't charge that to our families in need.
We only charge $20 a year for our after school programs for kids and families in Monroe and Owen Counties.
Now lots of families donate to us and they pay more because they can, but there are a lot of families
that can't. And so we're here for every single kid who needs us and your support is what allows us to
charge that $20 a year.
It actually costs us about $750 a year to serve a kid. So if we were to charge the families, and let's
say they have two, three, four kids, $750 a year, that would be cost prohibitive for a lot of families.
As the cost of everything else goes up,
We want the cost of our programs to go down so that they have more money to spend on groceries, they
have more money to spend on utilities and rent and the things that they really need. And so we're able
to keep that cost down only because of all of the people in this room and beyond that have chosen to
give and support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wilmington. Our community needs club kids. There are future
teachers, doctors, business owners, caregivers, and leaders. They'll shape what this community becomes.
And club kids need all of us.
Thank you for being here and for believing in what is possible when we show up for youth. All right,
so enough from me now. Try to ignore the cuteness that's happening to my left. But they're going to
come around and come up on the stage. And I'm really excited to introduce our first showcase of the
day, the Ellitsville Club Cheer and Dance Team. Come on up, guys.
Good job, Alexville. It takes a lot of hard work, so I want to give a shout out to staff member Nikki
for all the work that she's done with that. Hi, everyone. My name is Jack Lasky, and I serve as the
vice president of youth development for the club. I'm here to celebrate the growth that we saw in 2025.
I'm excited to share with you how all of your support impacted the growth in our program over the past year.
For those of you that might not know, we added a new site this year, and we now serve members at seven
sites across Monroe and Owen Counties throughout the year. Here at the Lincoln Street, at the Steve
and Connie Ferguson Crestmont Club, the Ellisville Club, Camp Rock on Lake Lemon, and our three Owen
County sites. We have a standalone clubhouse in Owen County and two school-based sites, Gosport Elementary,
which we opened in the fall of 2024, and Patrick'sburg Elementary, which we opened up just this past fall.
The club has truly grown and mobilized in order to support our region in ways that we haven't been able
to in the past. There are many in this room who gave and supported the vision of serving kids in Owen
County who need us most. And I'm pleased to report that we are now serving as many as 112 kids per day
in Owen County. And that number will continue to grow. So we want to say thank you for those who've
supported the Owen County clubs with your donations.
In honor of the great work, the team that has been doing in Owen County, the Owen County Chamber of
Commerce recognized us as the 2025 Nonprofit of the Year. We're pleased to win this award, but are even
more pleased to be contributing member to the Owen County community. We're partnering with people in
Owen County to add value and improve the quality of life for the residents there. And they've welcomed
us to serve the kids and families who need us the most. So again, thank you for that.
As we set our eyes on the upcoming year, we have more new and exciting ways to continue to grow and
serve more kids. One way we are doing so is by expanding our popular Camp Rock program out at Lake Lemon.
In August 2025, we held a ceremonial groundbreaking on a new building that will help us serve 50 more
campers a day by the summer of 2027. So we currently serve about 100 kids a day there, so adding 50
more will help us grow by 50%.
Camp Rock is such a special program for our organization. Kids spend the entire day outdoors, fishing,
hiking, canoeing, swimming. They participate in archery, do crafts, sing camp songs, and have a special
cookout every Friday. So we're thrilled at the opportunity to have more campers experience the summer
on the lake. I was a Camp Rock director for six years, so it held a very special place in my heart.
And I'm proud that we're going to be expanding that magic of Camp Rock for more kids and families soon.
And if you're a parent in this room that's tried to get into Camp Rock, I think you'll be excited by
shorter wait lists and more room for campers. In 2024, we also started a new initiative to help grow
the number of kids that we're seeing attending the club daily. We're a drop-in program, so kids don't
have to come every day.
But our data shows that if we can serve kids three days a week or more, we have a much more significant
impact on their lives. So in addition to the growth that Leslie had mentioned in registered members
and number of kids attending each day, the number of members who attended 100 days or more per school
year increased by 245 members, which is incredible.
Our efforts are working and our data is showing the impact is growing. Our National Youth Outcomes
Initiative, which is our annual survey data that we receive from our members, went up across the board
in almost every single category, which is good as I've seen it in the past 12 years that I've been with
the organization. And more regular attendance by members allows us to deepen our impact and serve as
a more foundational component for the daily lives and the kids and families that we support.
As always, we make this impact by continuing to offer a wide variety of more than 100 special programs
that focus on education, arts, health and wellness, and leadership and service. For those programs,
those programs include karate, cooking, chess, gardening, skateboarding, soccer, and so much more. This
past year we also made the intentional decision to prioritize the growth of educational support at the
clubs for kids and families. Our tutoring program,
continues to make huge impacts across our sites. And we've increased our efforts. We've seen increased
results. So in 2025, nearly 100 volunteers helped us provide free weekly tutoring to 198 members for
a total of over 1800 hours of tutoring in 2025. And since our pilot year in 2023, we have grown this
program by over 113 members, which is incredible. Big shout out to Kristen for leading that. Let's give
Kristen a round of applause.
Because our focus on educational support and the great success of the tutoring program, when an opportunity
came along to provide these supports over the summer, we explored it. This opportunity came in the form
of a new summer learning lab program. The summer learning lab is an evidence-based program that serves
as a great opportunity for all students to stay academically engaged over the summer while still getting
the experience
the joys of summer break. Through the statewide program, the club was able to provide free full-day
summer programming to 267 rising first and eighth graders. Each day students received 90 minutes of
literacy instruction and 75 minutes of math instruction before jumping into our traditional summer activities
like field trips, swimming, arts and crafts, and all the other fun things that you think of when you
think of club in the summer.
For the academic portion of the day, we partnered with local school districts to hire licensed teachers
with the help of Boys and Girls Club staff to serve as teachers' aids in those classrooms. And the teachers
we worked with were absolutely fantastic and overwhelmingly excited about the opportunity. And over
half of the participants who we served received free and reduced lunch. So the five free weeks of full-day
summer programming made a huge difference.
in those families. And the results were fantastic. Members that attended the summer learning lab on
average saw over 20% growth in English language arts and over 12% increases in math scores in just five
weeks. So taking these types of programs on that help raise the bar for youth in our community is what
we're all about. And thank you for helping us grow this past year. It has been fun to find the innovative
and new ways to serve kids and families in ways that they need us most.
So now it's time for another showcase and it is my pleasure to introduce our Owen County Drama Club.
We hope that you enjoy their performance and I think they'll be coming up just right now.
Look at how special I am. Look at my beautiful shells sparkling in every color of the rainbow. Hello,
Sarah. What do you want? Don't you see I'm busy enjoying my beautiful shells? Can I have one of your
beautiful sparkly shells? A shell? Give you one of my shells? Never. Get away from me, Toby.
What are you looking at? Donnie, should I have the most beautiful shells on the beach? I don't think
I want to play with you anymore. Me neither. Wait, where are you going?
I have the most beautiful shells on the beach, but no one will play with me. Beauty isn't everything,
Sarah. Your shells are lovely, but your heart is gone. But what does my heart have to do with my beauty?
I'll tell you what, Sarah. Go to their house, find Grandma. She'll know what to tell you. Grandma,
good idea. Thanks, Granddad.
Sarah, welcome child. Come have a seat and help grandma with these things. Yes, grandma. Sarah, you
seem troubled. What's bothering you?
My grandpa said it's my heart. Am I sick? Oh no, my dear. You are perfectly healthy. Listen, Sarah.
The secret to having a beautiful heart is sharing. Give away one of your beautiful shells to each of
your friends. A shell? Give them one of my shells? But then they won't be special. You'll have less
shells, but you'll learn what it truly means to have a beautiful heart. Get my hair so I can walk on the snow.
Wait. Hello, Sarah. I want to give you a shell. Just one sparkling shell. Thank you, Sarah. It's a wonderful
gift. Can I please have one too, Sarah? Me too. Me too. Me too. Yes, yes, of course.
I'm not the only kid with beautiful shells anymore, but I've never been happier. My heart must be beautiful
just like our shells. You're the best, Sarah! Let's all go play!
She saw her mom back there and so happy her mom was here to watch her. Let's give another round of applause
for these Owen County kids.
You know, I'm so thankful for these opportunities for kids to be able to do this. Getting in front of
all of you is a little scary. A little scary for me. It's a lot scary for them. And I love giving kids
opportunities to face those fears. That's what we do every single day at the club.
We help kids learn resilience. We help them learn how to grow and how to thrive. And even if they fail
or even if they mess up, we help them see, hey, it's OK. It's not that big of a deal. You can get back
up and you can try again. But they really nailed it. They did great. So I'm so thankful for this opportunity.
Thank you for being such a great audience and a supportive audience and supporting those kids to showcase
their talents and what they've been working on.
We are so glad the Owen County Club is now part of our organization and the club family and we're actually
part of a much larger organization. We're an independent 501c3 with our own board and a lot of autonomy
but we're part of what's called the Boys and Girls Club movement. The movement is across the country.
We're part of an organization that's got
clubs on native lands, on every military installation in the world, in every state in our country. We've
got a Boys and Girls Club Alliance where we work together with clubs in the state of Indiana. And across
the country we serve 5,500 clubs, are serving 4 million kids through Boys and Girls Clubs. That's really
awesome to be part of that network. We share best practices, we support each other, and we love being
part of that bigger group.
This year, we participated in a collaborative marketing effort with our alliance to tell the power of
the club in the state of Indiana. And our very own Kelly King, who's here with us today, she's the owner
of 8020 Agency, her and her team videotaped this for us and put this piece together, so we want to show
it to you today. One day, a boys and girls club kid will lead your team to the finals. One day, a club
kid will save your life. One day, he might be your boss.
Or she might find your home. One day a club kid will shape champions, fight for what's just, and serve
your community. Think it's unlikely? They're already doing it. Indiana needs club kids.
And that's why today, club kids need you. Donate to support your local Boys and Girls Club today. Kelly
and her team did such a great job and you might have recognized that gym in the video, the gym you're
sitting in right now. I love that message. Our community needs club kids. Bloomington needs club kids.
Ellisville needs club kids.
Owen County needs club kids. We need what these kids bring to the table. We need them to thrive and
grow into, as our mission says, caring, productive, and responsible citizens. And you all provide
opportunities for them to do just that. One opportunity you help us to provide is our Youth of the Year
program. This is the highest honor that a kid can win at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington. Young
people compete across our organization, and we have one winner from each location every year.
And then we have an organizational winner who is our Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington Youth of the
Year. They go on to compete at a statewide competition, and it's a really great opportunity for them.
So at this point, I'm going to invite John and Audrey McCluskey to make their way up to the stage, and
I'm going to speak a little bit more about them as they come. The power of this program to give kids
opportunities resonated with John and Audrey McCluskey. As they come, I'll tell you that they care deeply
for the club and the work that we do with young people.
and wanted to create something special that would leave a legacy for the future. But they also wanted
to help provide support to kids now. Ultimately, the John A. McCluskey Jr. Youth of the Year Fund was
formed. We had lots of conversations about what that would look like and how we would support our kids,
and I'm excited to share a little bit more about that with you today, and they'll share a little bit
as well. Today, we are going to give away our first scholarship for that fund for our 2025 Youth of the Year.
But before we do, I will let John and Audrey tell you a little bit more about kind of why they had a
passion for this program specifically, why they wanted to pour into youth and share a little bit more
about their heart for the Boys and Girls Club. So please welcome John and Audrey McCluskey. Thank you.
It's wonderful to be here and see so many familiar faces.
But first, I want to thank Leslie. She's done just a phenomenal job. She had some big shoes to fill
after Jeff Baldwin, but she more than filled them and in heels. So in terms of this boys club, it's
meant so much to our family over the years.
When we moved to Bloomington about 40 years ago, we had three small boys in tow. The first thing, we
were looking for places to absorb some of their restless energy. So we found three places in Bloomington.
And of course, the Boys Club, it was then called the Boys Club, was one of them. But the first stop
was to the library because we
wanted to be educated so we wanted to make sure that they knew where the public library we have a phenomenal
public library the next place was a YMCA because we like to stay fit and we want to keep them busy and
then the third place of course is this foundational place the Boys Club here on Lincoln and it has meant
so much to us now John
who was a football guy, played football in college, high school and college, and he came here, you know,
soccer was on the rise, and he didn't know very much about soccer, but he learned. He learned,
he saw videos, he read books, et cetera, and coached boys' club soccer here at the boys' club. And they
went on to be champions, I think. So.
And not only did he coach soccer, which was football, he also coached basketball. And I think they also
won. So a big birthday was coming up for John, and family and friends were coming from all over. And
I knew they would bring gifts. And I said, well, we are in that stage now, but we're thinking more about
legacy rather than just gifts, ties and shirts and all.
And so that's when the thought in my conversations with Jeff began about a fund, a sustainable fund
in John's name because he really loved all the work that he did here. And so that was the germination
and we worked out all the details and I think we have a sustainable program that can go on for years.
And so we are just very, very delighted to have this opportunity to give back.
And so John now will talk a little bit more about it.
Okay. So it was a little less than five decades ago, and the oldest son, with three sons, the oldest
one was seven years old, the youngest who was still in diapers. So none of them were tall enough to
do slam dunks on any of these baskets. So we looked around and said, well, okay, where can they expend
this energy that they have?
We found the library. We found the church. And then we found this place because it was a place where
they could come and just hang out. It was a safe place. And they could come have fun. But they could
also learn the skill and the art of athletics. It was not kickball or dodgeball. There was a grace to
soccer. There was a grace to basketball. They learned to win. They learned to accept loss.
but they also learned to learn from that loss. And they went on through their lives to do interesting
things. When I asked them a couple nights ago, I said, what sticks out in your mind about the Boys Club
experience? And yes, they were the, when the fathers would join the boys at Lake Lemon for an overnight
on Friday night, okay, they're mosquitoes.
Nobody slept. There were the great basketball games in this site that we have here. There were the great
soccer matches along the way. All of those were great fun. But what stuck out were the relationships.
And the youngest one who was in diapers when he arrived here said, you know, what is most important
to me are the relationships.
Five boys who never met on one team are now good friends, and coming back from a ski club, a ski weekend
in Colorado, they've become the best of friends for 45 years. And I'm thinking, to a 12-year-old, 45
doesn't mean very, very much. You're not aiming for that. You're aiming to do a slam dunk or something
else. But as we grow older, we realize that there's something to cherish.
and to be supported as much as we possibly can. So I'm very, very proud of that pillar of our experience
here. It's a winner, that's all I can say. And hopefully your support will continue as we all go forward.
Thank you very much.
than John. I'm going to have them stay up here because we are going to invite our Youth of the Year
to receive her scholarship now. So I want to tell you a little bit about Ariana. She was our Ellisville
Club Youth of the Year winner and then she won our organizational award. She represents the mission
of the organization with excellence and dedication. She's a leader by example.
She continues to grow. She challenges the status quo. She asks thoughtful questions. She pours into
other members and her peers, and they look up to her. They really were excited and happy for her when
she won this Youth of the Year award, and they celebrated her, which is another great characteristic
of all of us. We learned how to celebrate each other and be happy for each other. It was fun to watch
them to do that for you, Ariana.
She continues to grow and has been with us and is an excellent representation of our organization. She
won the Youth of the Year Award for our org, and she went on to the state competition. And she placed
fifth in the state competition in the top five as a freshman. And the other ones that placed in the
top five were all seniors. So we were pretty proud of Ariana and the work she did. Please welcome up
Ariana. Come on up here, Ariana.
and he's gonna take our picture. Ariana, come right here. We're gonna give that to you, yeah. Wonderful,
thank you guys. Congratulations. Congrats, good work. You wanna say something? Yeah, go for it. And
then I just wanted to thank everyone for
encouraging me and helping me to get through this journey for youth of the year. Thank you.
was really good she was very nervous but at the state competition they have to give their speech about
six or seven different times so by the last time she really had it down and you could tell those nerves
sort of went away but that was almost a year ago now that she was up at the state competition so we
are really proud of our youth of the year and we're excited because we're about to crown another youth
of the year as well but really great to have opportunities to really recognize and honor our club kids.
volunteers and people who want to make a difference like the McCluskys really help us to get this done.
Actually, I couldn't have said it better than John. He said it's all about relationships, and that is
true. There are so many people that make it possible to do what it is that we do, and a lot of you are
in this room right now. But volunteers are also a part of that picture. We love our staff, but we love
having volunteers in our building. And in the past year, 2025 alone, we had over 1,000 volunteers give
their time, energy, and talent to our youth, and they contributed 13,400
486 hours in service. Those hours matter. They represent homework help after a long day of school. They
represent encouragement when it feels hard. Consistent adult support is what kids need to thrive, and
these volunteers have showed them that they're capable of more than they think they are. They serve
as board members, they serve as advisors, tutors, mentors, and program partners. They're the adults
who recognize potential before kids see it in themselves.
and they show up week after week because they believe in the future of our kids. So if you have volunteered
at a fundraising event, in a program with our kids, if you have been on the board of directors in any
capacity or you represent an organization who volunteers or sends volunteers, I'm gonna ask you to stand
up and be recognized at this time, please. Let's get a little hand for our volunteers. Come on board
members, join us. Volunteers, community leaders,
Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Those volunteer hours are so valuable. We calculated those
savings, and it's very conservative calculation, but they're around $98,000 in savings with volunteer
hours that we didn't have to pay staff or our partners to come in and run programs. So it's a huge savings
to the organization when volunteers are a part of what it is that we do.
And I think that's a good segue to introduce to you our VP of Finance and Administration, Matt Gargiulo,
and he's gonna tell you a little bit more about our financial success that you allowed us to have. So
please welcome Matt.
Hi everyone, my name is Matt Gargiulo and I have the privilege of serving as the VP of Finance here
at the Boys and Girls Club. This is my third report to really reflect on the impact of our community's
investment in young people across Monroe and Owen Counties. Oh goodness, 2025 was truly a year of remarkable
growth financially, operationally, and missionally.
Even with the uncertainty that we experienced with some government funding in our state and federal
sources, our local community stepped forward in powerful ways to really ensure that our clubs remained
a stable and high quality resource for kids and families. In 2025, our operating budget, our operating
revenue reached $4.1 million that met and exceeded our budget goals. And it took a lot of different
ways to get there.
The success of that goal reflects the generosity of thousands of individuals, small businesses,
civic groups, corporations and community partners, all of you. 2.3 million of that, 56% of our budget
came directly from individuals, individual donors and local businesses. That is a remarkable feat and
I continue to just thank you for that investment. Your support, it is a testament to the heart of our
community.
Thank you for continuing to invest in our mission and our kids.
It also came from innovative partnerships and programs like the summer learning labs program that you
heard a little bit about and from private charitable foundations of all shapes and sizes. So overall
in a year of leadership transition and uncertainty, I am proud to say that we have also controlled expenses
well and we have stewarded the resources that we received. We can collectively ended with a net positive
revenue of nearly $53,000.
Every year when I compile this report, I am reminded of how deeply invested our community is in this
mission. And these numbers, they represent people, people who believe in great futures for our kids
across Monroe and Owen counties. So if you like the data and numbers like I do and want more, make sure
that you check out our annual report for more details. It's important to know that these numbers only
tell part of the story.
This past year, every key mission-aligned metric, they continued to move in the right direction. We
served more kids. We strengthened our program quality. We invested intentionally in our staff
and infrastructure. We intentionally continued the legacy of being good stewards of our community's
investment through ensuring that every dollar supports our youth
cares for our beautiful facilities and helps position us for continued impact in 2026 and beyond. So
as we celebrate 70 years, I recognize that this progress, it stands on the shoulders of decades
of leadership, generosity and belief in this mission. And really the opportunities that you've heard
about of being able to respond to needs in communities around us and right here in our backyard, we
celebrate today all of that, that we really only are able to do this
because of the legacy that was built by those who came before, including many of you in this room in
so many different ways. You've poured your time, your talent, and your treasure into the clubs year
after year. So thank you for being a part of our story. Thank you for helping create great futures for
thousands of children and youth in our community. And thank you for investing in our mission and in
our kids. At this time, I'd like to welcome back to our stage our VP of Resource Development, Darcy Casey.
Hi, everybody. I'm Darcy Casey. I'm the VP of Resource Development here at the club. So good to see
you all. This time last year, I was on this stage. I was a little bit rounder. I was seven months pregnant
with my daughter, Delta. She's nine months old and crawling and eating noodles now. But I was only about
a month into my new job.
into this role, I landed my dream job. And I was meeting all of you for the very first time. I was a
little shaky. I'm probably still a little shaky. But I know and I knew then that I'm in the right place.
The reason I believe that this mission is so crucial is rooted in my experience as a working mom. I
know how challenging it can be to balance work and family
and how important it is to feel supported while building your career. That's exactly what the Boys and
Girls Club provides. Support for the kids who need us most, obviously, to all become caring, productive,
responsible citizens, but also support for the mothers and the families in this community and in this
room. Every mom deserves to have this experience, to have their dream job.
Just remember that for every kid we serve, there's a mom or a caretaker behind them who is able to pursue
their dreams just like me. And that wouldn't be possible without all of you. So thank you. The donors
in this room really showed up for young people who needed us most this year. As Matt mentioned, for
the past 70 years, we've relied heavily on the generosity of individual community members
Everyone here has played a part in that history. In 2025, 1,375 community members donated to the club.
76% of that came from people living right here in this community, so local dollars supporting local
kids. We also welcomed 577 new donors to our family.
So if you're sitting here today, as Leslie mentioned, welcome to the movement. Your support is changing
lives. Some of the most exciting ways that we raise funds throughout the year are events, which collectively
generate over half a million dollars. But these aren't events, they're just not about raising funds.
They're about connection, visibility, and creating experiences where our community actively invests
in the lives of young people.
This past May, we hosted our Boys to Men event, which focuses on mentorship, character development,
and positive role models for young men in our clubs. We were honored to welcome someone who you no longer
have to Google, Indiana University head football coach and national championship title winner, Kurt Signetti.
The event was emceed by the voice of the Hoosiers, Don Fisher. And we are grateful to have IU football
players, including our own Khalil Benson, in attendance, serving as real life examples of leadership
and commitment. We recognize our Men in Leadership award winner, Cal Richard Kinman, who personifies
our mission at the Ellitsville club as the team director. In September, we hosted Smart Girls Strong
Women, which helps fund smart girls programming and promotes healthy lifestyles, confidence,
positive relationships and leadership for girls ages eight to 18. The evening was emceed by
Sherry Dunbar-Cruzan and featured keynote speaker Vera Jones, an award-winning broadcaster, motivational
speaker in Boys and Girls Clubs of America alumna. A special moment of the evening was a presentation
of the Anne St. John Strong Woman Award. Honoring our club staff member, Ms. LaTanya, our unit director
at the Stephen Conny Ferguson Cresmont Club.
We also had Golf Heroes. It's another event that reflects a power of the teamwork. At Rolling Meadows
Golf Course, 18 dedicated players came together to support the Ellisville Club, where as many as 263
kids attend every day, making it our largest club. I think we should give a round of applause for that.
Their commitment
Their commitment directly supported programs, mentorship, and opportunities for kids. In 2025, we are
also the recipients of the annual 100 Cooks Who Care event presented by Old National Bank. This event
brought chefs of all skill levels, repping their favorite TV shows, and brought us alongside Big Brothers
Big Sisters to raise over $100,000 in profits for each organization.
We actually did a lot of cooking in costumes this year in 2025 because we also, thanks to the hard work
of Brandy Hamilton, our Owen County Community Director, we were thrilled to launch our first signature
event in Owen County, Owen County Cooks for Kids. Thanks to our friends at Old National for letting
us repurpose and reuse this event, we were able to
bring it to a new community. We exceeded our thirty thousand dollar goal in the first year and have
our sights set on doubling that in twenty twenty six. We also hosted the second annual One Love event
which supports the One Love needs and scholarship fund. This fund ensures club youth have access to
urgent needs like clothing shoes school supplies
hygiene items, while also supporting scholarships from alumni to pursue education or entering the workforce.
Thanks to the generosity of this community and a huge thanks to Terry Eads, who is little Jackie. Remember
the membership card? It's his wife that we told you about earlier. Her and her family and Rebecca Thomas
poured their heart into this and raised nearly $35,000.
We also benefited from a lot of other community support, little auctions and fundraisers throughout
the community. Here's a couple of notable ones. The Barbie Convention. Andrew Davis and IU Basketball
paired up to give us a significant gift. Bob Knight.
memorabilia auction. We actually had in possession one of his chairs that he used to eat ice cream in.
And so we auctioned that off. Kelly Women's MBA auction, and of course, our longtime supporters, the
Auxiliary. And they've been around almost as long as we have, as long as the Boys and Girls Club. But
they had an incredible year. The Strawberry Shortcake Festival sold
4,000 cakes and 340 kits, and they added a relatively new addition, which is the 5K event, which doubled
in attendance this year. So, so many fun events and small and large fundraisers, but thank you to everyone
who attended, sponsored, donated to, or raised your paddle to sponsor a child or purchase an auction
item at any of these events I mentioned. If that is you and you are here today,
I want to ask you to please stand and be recognized at this time. So anybody who has came to Boys to
Men or Smart Girls, I see some of you out there. Go ahead and stand up. Yes. Let's give a round of applause.
Thank you. Yes. You all bring these events to life.
But another thing that I want to talk about is something to celebrate, which truly brings our mission
to life as our community events. They allow us to reach young people and families far beyond our daily
club members. Across our Ellisville, Ferguson, Cresmont, and Lincoln Street clubs, their community
put on Halloween parties, a Thanksgiving dinner, and brought families together for a true sense of community.
And we couldn't have done it without your support and the amazing staff members at each of these clubs.
Our Spring Fling Father Figure Daughter Dance presented by Service Master and our Fall Ball sponsored
by Old National Bank and Harris Services continue to create meaningful events and moments for families
of all shapes and sizes.
We had over 400 attendees at these events. But what makes these events especially meaningful is that
they're free, open to all, made possible by our generous sponsors and donors. Because of you, the club
is not just a place where kids go after school. It's a place where families gather, traditions grow,
and the entire community feels welcome. So thank you for making these moments possible.
Our most recognized community event is Lemonade Day, presented by our friends at Cook Medical. It remains
one of the most far reaching programs. In 2025, more than 900 young entrepreneurs participated, learning
lifelong skills around earning, saving, and sharing. Lemonade Day is truly a year round experience.
It kicks off in March.
And then in May, we host a University Day where our community members come and teach our kids how to
run a small business. University Day is in May, and then it's followed by Lemonade Day on June 7th.
It will be this year.
This program wouldn't be possible without our Lemon Council. They're dedicated volunteers who plan to
teach and show up for our kids. They're really the heart of this program, and they're simply the zest.
That one's for you, Laura. Let's give a round of applause for the Lemon Council.
Okay, I wanna spend the rest of my time on stage today, recognizing all of you, the people and the partners
who keep our membership fees affordable so that we can serve more kids than ever, just like Leslie mentioned.
While families pay just $20 a year, it costs us about 750 to serve each child. Because so many people
in this room said yes to sponsoring a kid,
Through our annual board led fundraising efforts, we raised $272,000. That means in 2025, you all opened
that blue door for about 362 kids to walk into the club and be changed for good. Thank you so much for
sponsoring kids through our Our Kids campaign and Big Hearts campaign this year.
If you have sponsored a child for $750 a year, which is one child or multiple children through our annual
campaigns, please stand and be recognized at this time. Truly, truly special.
to see all of you here, it's really great. The Blue Door that I just mentioned is part of our Blue Door
Society. It signals a meaningful commitment, recognizing donors who have supported the club for five
or more years. So, if you're a long time supporter, if you've been donating for five or more years,
you're in our Blue Door Society. We have over 775 community members who fall in this category.
In August, we hosted our eighth annual Blue Door Society Cookout at Camp Rock on Lake Lemon, where we
gathered with over 100 attendees and celebrated these longtime supporters. At this event, we also honored
our Be Great award winners who are longtime, consistent volunteers. So if you are here, please at this
time, would anyone who has given to the club for five years or more stand to be recognized?
We're grateful for all of you, all of our partners, including businesses, civic groups, other nonprofits,
school corporations, and government entities who support the club at any level. It takes strong support
and partnerships to do the work that we do every day. We specifically want to show you those at the
top three levels. Our mentors at 2,500, and we can go ahead and give them a round of applause.
the champion level at $5,000 and above. And our club heroes at $10,000 plus. These partnerships sustain
our work year after year because you believe our community needs club kids.
Thank you for supporting young people through sponsorships, grants, and partnerships that create real
lasting impact. It takes all kinds of gifts actually, in kind, service trades, discounts, donations
from these groups to get things done efficiently and sustainably. If you represent a business,
civic group, another nonprofit partner, school corporation, or government partner at any level, please
stand to be recognized at this time.
We really couldn't do it without you. Another thing that we couldn't think about going further into
the future is without our Heritage Club. So the Heritage Club honors those who have chosen to support
the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington for generations to come by including the club and their estate
plans. Today, 64 members are recognized on our legacy wall and each making a lasting commitment to kids
in our community.
As we celebrate 70 years, our goal is to grow that number to 70 members, honoring both our history and
our future. So please join me in thanking anyone who has left us in their estate plans or in our Heritage Club.
In 2026, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington were celebrating 70 years. As you can see, lots of
birthday decor around turning 70. But for the past 70 years, we've been inspiring young people and building
community. We are inviting all alumni of the Boys and Girls Clubs and friends to join or renew your
membership and the alumni and friends
and even when I got in here today, I've had lots of conversations. Oh, he was in the boys club or,
you know, I used to play basketball here. Is anybody here an alumni? Would you consider yourself an
alumni? Raise your hand, wave at me. Awesome, let's give them a round of applause. I would love
to have conversations with you this year. We're celebrating 70 years. We want to document these stories.
We want to share success. So if you can reach out to me and have a story to tell, we're going to have
a website landing page for all of these stories, as well as a yearbook to commemorate all of these amazing
community members who used to be club alum. So we want to hear your stories, and we hope we all share
them with us. In closing,
Thank you. Thank you for showing up for our kids, our families, and the working parents and moms like
me in this community. Your generation and your generosity makes dreams come true. And now, as a reminder
of why we do this work, it's time to hear directly from our kids as we welcome the Ferguson Cresmont
Club performance. So you can...
Give them a round of applause and I'll tell you a little bit about them while they make their way here.
Our final showcase for today is our Stephen Conney Ferguson Cresmont Club Choir with the help of some
incredible community members. Our kids have been working hard to learn this song with their own added
twist. So join me in welcoming the Ferguson Cresmont Club.
She put a lot of work into this today. Way to go, kiddos. All right. So as we begin to wrap up today,
I want to share a quick story with you. There was a little girl who dreamed big. She dreamed to be queen
of the world. She would be a school principal. She would own an airport. She would run the largest charity
in the world and give to everyone who asked her.
And she really believed she could. She also had a bunch of baby dolls in her hands because she wanted
to be a mom, too. But she was told she was special, that she brought something to the world, that the
world needed what it is that she had to give. And doors were opened for her, and people helped her and
supported her and spoke into her life and gave her opportunities. Over time, she realized people don't
really own international airports, and there's no such thing as queen of the world. But she started
to see real possibilities in her lives.
Real possibilities that were in front of her and started to work towards those dreams. And she believed
she could. She believed she could bring something special to the world. This little girl was me. I had
a wonderful support system, parents who loved me and told me I could. My dad who constantly told me
that just because I was a girl didn't mean that I couldn't lead and be in every room I wanted to be
in. A mom who told me that I was special every single day and that I brought something interesting and
unique to the world and the world needed what I had to bring.
And every kid deserves that kind of support. To be supported, to feel valued, to be seen, and to understand
that they bring something to the world that no one else can. This is my first year as the CEO of the
Boys and Girls Club after being here on staff for about 12 years. Today marks 13 months and 13 days
on the job, actually. And it's been quite a ride. It's been harder than I thought it would be.
It's been more complex than I thought it would be. And it's been the most rewarding year and the most
fun I have ever had. I feel like the queen of the world. But it feels different than I thought it would.
I don't feel rich because of the title. I feel rich because of the people. Because of each and every
one of you. All the people who stand beside us and beside the kids that need us most and make an impact
because you believe in the work that we're doing. And more importantly, you believe in those kids.
Those kids who stood up here and worked hard to showcase their talents and abilities and stood up here afraid.