Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pasadena, which will be celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. For the past 70 years, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pasadena have remained committed to their motto of "Caring for our future, one child at a time."
Incorporated in 1937, the Boys Club of Pasadena, a member of the national organization, Boys Clubs of America, began by serving a Christmas dinner for 200 underprivileged boys in a rented space in Pasadena.
By 1953, the Boys Club membership had reached 4659, a drastic increase from 560 only ten years earlier. In the early 1960s, several milestones were achieved; the Boys Club acquired its own property, joined United Way of Los Angeles and received the National Program Award for Excellence for its Science Series Program.
Continuing to expand its services, the 1970s saw the Boys Club of Pasadena acquiring the Slavic Branch in Pasadena, becoming Pasadena's sponsor of the Summer Hot Lunch Program for Children, which served over 400 meals daily to club members, and the Boys Club Scholarship Program was formally established to aid young people with vocational, educational or fine arts pursuits.
The Boys Club of Pasadena opened the first childcare facility operated for pre-school children by any Boys Club. The Mackenzie/Scott Child Development Center opened in 1989 and was licensed by State of California for 88 preschool children. In 1990, the Center was accepted into the State of California Food Program and was formerly recognized by the City of Pasadena for excellence in child care.
In 1990, after the Boys Clubs of America changed its name to Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Boys Club of Pasadena changed its name to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pasadena.
Hilary Crahan became Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pasadena in 2004 and under her leadership the club has continued to emphasize both formal and informal education. Currently, over 7200 children participate at the five sites: Slavik Branch, the Mackenzie-Scott Branch, the Scott Child Care Center, the Performing Arts Center, and the Orange Grove Learning Center. The more than fifty academically enriching programs include music and arts education, sports, technology training, leadership classes, and tutoring in math, English, and science.
It is my pleasure to honor the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pasadena on their anniversary of 70 years of dedicated service to the youth in the 29th Congressional District. I ask all members to join me in commending their efforts.