Pen People Mar 2018

T
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor
Giving a helping hand where it is needed most
he Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor (BGCLAH) might
be 80 years old, but they are pulsing with contemporary vitality. In
addition to providing safe places for youth in an area struggling
with crime and poverty, BGCLAH is energetically helping at-risk kids
succeed in school, go to college, and explore a wide range of opportunities
in the arts and the working world.
BGCLAH emphasizes a “Triple A” approach to their services, augmenting
the Clubs’ traditional Athletics with Academics and the Arts.
The national Boys & Girls Clubs have undertaken similar expansions,
but BGCLAH programs have especially excelled. They have partnered
with corporate donors to provide science and technology labs with
3D printers and a laser cutter, taught budding musicians chart reading
and music theory, and helped 96 percent of the kids in their “College
Bound” program graduate from high school.
“We are one of the few nonprofit organizations fully dedicated to
youth – first of all to the youth who need us most – with comprehensive
programming and services they need for a future life of quality,” said
Executive Director Mike Lansing.
“Rather than a hand-out, this requires giving them a hand up,” he
said. “We provide daily and year-round services and facilities, and a
commitment to service the growth of the youth, and to aid their ability
to break out of poverty and become contributing members of our society.”
Indeed, BGCLAH is the largest private daily service provider in the
Harbor/South Bay area for youth who are “at risk” through economic
hardship, family challenges, or various other reasons such as learning
or physical disabilities.
The services are vital. Among the area’s 37,000 youth, some 13,000
live in households below the poverty level. The Los Angeles Police Department
classifies the area’s crime rate as medium to high.
BGCLAH has grown to operate three traditional clubhouses and 10
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LA HARBOR | 1200 S. Cabrillo Ave., San Pedro | 310-833-1366 | bgclaharbor.org
sites at elementary, middle and high schools in the Harbor area. The
Clubs serve more than 2,200 youth a day, providing daily transportation
for more than 500 of them, and serving 1,100 daily snacks and suppers.
Growing together
As executive director, Lansing has spearheaded BGCLAH’s growth.
As a kid, he played ball at the club in San Pedro. He went on to work
as an educator, teaching, coaching and administrating at the middle
school and high school levels, and served as a youth-oriented volunteer.
He was asked to join the board of directors of what was then the
Boys & Girls Club of San Pedro, and later applied for executive director,
approaching the board with a bold plan for the future of the club.
“I came in with a mindset that we could do more to help children
who need us,” Lansing said. He pitched a “Triple A” emphasis, and
pushed to expand offerings for teens.
The board said yes, and committed to sweeping new initiatives,
greater staffing, and vigorous shakings of the donor tree. Corporate
partners obliged, and the Clubs’ annual budget grew from $250,000
to $7.2 million.
Facing the future
BGCLAH is preparing a campaign for an additional $9 million for capital
improvements, sustained program offerings, and additions to an
endowment fund for the future.
“We want to support and sustain the impact we’ve had, for the next
80 years,” Lansing said, “and keep building the leaders for our community
and beyond.”
For more information see bgclaharbor.org
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March 2018 • Peninsula People 41