Donors 'come back' to Boys & Girls Clubs Donors 'come back' to Boys & Girls Clubs (June 01, 2005)

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

Is the recession ending? Things are certainly looking auspicious at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula.

With the final tallies in, the clubs' annual auction fundraiser held on May 21 brought in about $200,000 -- double the amount drummed up by last year's auction, development director Chris Canter said.

That success is helping the organization, which has clubhouses in Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and Redwood City, get out of the red for the first time in four years, he said. The fundraising goal for the fiscal year ending June 30 was $3.75 million, and he expects to end the year at $4 million.

"I think it's a sign that the economy is coming back, and that the organization is doing well," Mr. Canter said. "There's less of a sense of psychic poverty; donors seem to be coming back."

Some high-profile auction prizes didn't hurt. At the event, held in the East Palo Alto clubhouse, folks bid on a car-racing package including a spin around the track with champion Michael Andretti and front-row seats to the Indy Grand Prix at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma in August.

Another auction item was a weekend at an estate in Santa Barbara, with lunch with author Sue Grafton.

Mr. Canter said donors to the club also seem enthusiastic about its new emphasis on academic programs for at-risk youth, supplementing its other after-school activities. He said he's particularly pleased with the club's recent efforts to find scholarships to private high schools for eighth-graders graduating from the James Flood Magnet School in Menlo Park.

There's a low high school graduation rate for many students in the areas of the clubs, and these students will be more likely to graduate and go on to college, he said. Club officials help the students apply for scholarships and advocate on their behalf.

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