Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach

The Mission of the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach is to empower all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as healthy, caring and responsible adults

The Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach, also serving Saddleback Valley, is a chartered member of the Boys & Girls Club of America, a nationwide organization comprised of smaller, autonomous, community-based organizations that work to help young people of all backgrounds develop the qualities they need to become responsible citizens and leaders. Its history began in 1952 when community leaders determined that local youth needed a safe and supervised place to spend their free time. In 1967 a larger location was acquired to accommodate the growing number of members. We now have 8 club sites across Laguna Beach and the Saddleback Valley.
We serve over 5,000 young people, either as club members or at the numerous school campuses where our staff run lunch hour activities to help students engage in fun and active play with emphasis on social-emotional learning. Our club staff offer club members high-quality programing to encourage the development of healthy lifestyles. Our vision is to provide a relationship-rich experience that assures success is within reach of every young person we serve by promoting their healthy development in ways that will help them flourish in life. We are steadfast in our commitment to never turning away a family due to financial constraints, and aim to stand as a dependable haven that both families and the community can rely upon.

2024 Accomplishments
Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach was named one of the top 100 nonprofits in Orange County by the Orange County Business journal. BGCLB continued to serve more young people each year.
Our team of over 60 Youth Development Professionals continues to grow to meet the demand for our services, especially in neighborhoods where families have no other alternatives for out of school time programs.
Our school partnerships continue to strengthen as we provide during and after school programs for students now on 9 campuses.
Construction has started for our Canyon Branch Play Yard renovation and plans are completed to start our Bluebird Branch capital improvements. capital improvements.
We have chartered our new El Toro Branch at the Mountain View affordable housing development in Lake Forest, providing out-of-school time programs free of charge to families residing there.
After 25 years, we have sunset our largest fundraising event, the Art of Giving Gala, and replaced the revenue it generated by establishing the Great Futures Giving Circle for individuals contributing $10K or more.

The Club provides a positive place for children and teens during their out-of-school hours and remains in the forefront of youth development with special concern for those from disadvantaged economic, social, and family circumstances. As a community-based organization, our Club is uniquely positioned to positively affect the lives of the youth we serve. In order to accomplish our goals we need the continued support from our community, both financial and participatory. We are committed to reaching out to members of the community and need continued support through volunteerism. Today, we are serving over 5000 youth each day through our school day and out of school programs and on school sites. In order to guarantee our Club will continue to be here for the youth in our community we need more grant opportunities to raise the funds necessary to sustain and expand our Club.

Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, and Mission Viejo.

We have the opportunity to literally change the future! Every child takes a path in life. By investing in our kids now, we can change the trajectory of their journey into one of hopes, aspirations, and achievements. Positive relationships and role models can change a child’s life. Our Boys & Girls Club is committed to creating a safe and nurturing environment that lots of our kids can’t find anywhere but here. It’s a different world than when we grew up. Kids today are truly a generation in crisis. Between 3 and 7pm, over 15 million children and teens are left unsupervised and unsafe. We are combating a plethora of both insidious and blatantly exploitive influences that every single child faces every single day. Without our Club, they would have to face it alone. With the support of individuals, local foundations and the communities we serve, our kids will be able to know they can count on our Boys & Girls Club for someone to be there, someone to listen to them, someone who truly cares.   

I have had the honor of serving our community as a Board Member for the Boys & Girls Club Laguna Beach and have seen my own children blossom through the relationships and opportunities they have had at our Boys & Girls Club.   We now serve over 3400 kids each day. Each and every child gets personal attention with their homework, art projects, sports and their individual well being. It’s a safe, supervised, affordable environment for our children to not only grow but thrive. Since 1953, the Club has been able to maintain an ongoing level of commitment to our children due to generous community support which includes both financial as well as the investment of time. Our volunteers are the backbone of our Club. We have volunteers reading to the younger children, volunteers helping our team of Youth Development Professionals, and volunteers who fundraise so we can keep all these programs running at full capacity. I have made a personal investment in the Boys & Girls Club. It has become my passion. We change children’s lives.