GREAT FUTURES START HERE
CENTENNIAL ANNUAL REPORT 1915 – 2015
Lucile Palmaro Clubhouse May 5, 2015
“The Bronx is the most diverse county in America.”
U. S. Census Bureau, 2010
ISLAMIC LEADERSHIP SCHOOL VISIT April 29, 2015
The Bronx has become a haven for immigrants from all over the world. As we have recognized these demographic trends, Kips Bay has reached out to the Bronx’ newest families to welcome them and enroll their youngsters. Photo above is from a visit to the flagship Palmaro Clubhouse from the Al-Iman Mosque and Islamic Leadership School led, respectively, by our friends Sheikh Moussa Drammeh and his wife Shireena. We are grateful to The New York Community Trust and The Pinkerton Foundation for their support of our long-term commitment to the Bronx’ bourgeoning immigrant population. MISSION Our mission is to enrich and enhance the quality of life for young people by providing educational and developmental programs, with special emphasis on youngsters, ages 6 to 18, who come from disadvantaged or disenfranchised circumstances. COVER PHOTO ( l. to r.) Nasir Chasse and Kai Sappleton perform in our production of “I Saw A Century … 100 Years of Music and Dance.” The revue was choreographed, scripted and directed by Kip Bay alumnus Brett Sturgess in celebration of Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club’s 100th anniversary year in 2015. Please visit us at the new www.kipsbay.org
President's Message
A WINTER’S EVE IN 1915 Dear Friends, Patrons and Voluntary Leaders, I am honored and delighted to greet you as President of the Board of this venerable institution celebrating its 100th year in 2015. And I am honored to have served as Trustee since 2001 and as President since 2010. Let me tell you about our birth on a winter’s eve in 1915. In the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan “street boys” were making life difficult for the residents. The social service state of today was non-existent. What did exist was the impulse of citizens to join together for a common good. And so the Kips Bay Neighborhood Association met on a February evening in 1915 and Kips Bay Boys Club was born. Its mission, stated in the incorporation, was “the physical and social guidance and development of boys and young men in order to fit them to become worthy members of the community.” That was then. Our mission now is to “enrich and enhance the quality of life for all young people by providing educational and developmental programs, with special emphasis on youngsters between ages 6 - 18 who come from disadvantaged or disenfranchised circumstances.” We fulfill this mission for more than 10,000 youngsters annually at 2 clubhouses, 2 housing projects, 4 public schools, a rustic camp, and 2 homeless shelters. And we do it well. A recent national Boys & Girls Club alumni survey by Luis Harris Associates found that fully 57% of alumni said that their club saved their life. Also found: only 2% of African American male alumni did not graduate from high school, while nationally 21% do not achieve this credential. We are focused, not on our past, but on future generations of children. As the 2015 Show House opens we are announcing the public phase of a centennial campaign to ensure that Kips Bay remains vital. Our plans include expanding space for younger members including a new education center, creating new initiatives to improve egregious Bronx high school graduation rates for young minority men, building a digital fine arts center, and much more. By your friendship, generosity and voluntary leadership you help Kips Bay fulfill our mission and you reach out to youngsters who need you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.. Most sincerely,
James P. Druckman President P.S. Will you help Kips Bay thrive for another hundred years? Call me – 212-679-9500 x15 or jdruckman@nydc.com.
HAROLD MALDONADO, Jr. A KIPS BAY LIFE For almost half of our 100 years our staff has been graced by Palmaro and Coudert Clubhouses Director Harold Maldonado, Jr. It is a career that began on the day in 1969 that we opened in the Bronx, laden with accolades and accomplishments: Kips Bay’s move to the Bronx in 1969 began several years earlier. By the 1960’s it was more than clear that New York City’s boys in greatest need did not live on Manhattan’s East Side. Longtime trustee Monte Hackett recalls being part of a Trustee delegation that met with the Planning Commission of Mayor John Lindsay. Consider the Soundview section of the Bronx they were told. A site was found at White Plains Road and Randall Avenue, a capital campaign was mounted, and a Boys Club began to grow in the Bronx. Watching was 16-year-old Harold Maldonado, Jr. There was no signage and every week he would pass by to check out the new “neighbor.” In June 1969 Harold observed a man in the building and knocked on the glass door and asked, “What is this?” “A Boys Club” said staff member Lenny Cohen, “want to come in?” Harold still remembers the new smell of the building and how big it was. Two weeks later Harold was hired as a junior staff member, at $1.75 cents an hour, launching a career that continues in 2015. Lenny introduced the young apprentice to Boys Clubs of America staff at national headquarters opposite the United Nations in Manhattan, and the following year Harold traveled to Boston for the national Keystone Club Conference. In the 1970s much of the Bronx was a tough place as Kips Bay Boys Club was taking root in a new environment. It was in this Bronx that a youthful Harold Maldonado experienced Kips Bay as a safe place, and a haven where staff treated club members well, setting a tone that carried over into club members’ relations with each other. Fights or rowdy behavior, all too common in and around schools of the era, were almost non-existent at the Club.
(l. to r.) K-Company members Jennifer Miranda, Demaris Lopez, Veronica Vasquez, Lanier Jackson, Sabrina Nieves and Anthony Rodriguez flank “Family Feud” host Ray Combs and Harold Maldonado, Jr. at the 1991 Boys & Girls Clubs of America national conference in Washington D. C.
Lorenzo “Larry” Maldonado was Harold’s older brother and he was born to dance. By 16 he was performing with Ballet Hispanico and travelled with the company to Europe. In 1982 Larry approached Harold about starting a dance program at Kips Bay. Larry’s dance/performing arts program was an immediate success. Remarkably, among the earliest participants were future superstars Jennifer Lopez and Kerry Washington. Kips Bay had caught lighting on stage. But Larry’s brilliant star was to shine at Kips Bay for only 2 years. By 1985 he had contracted a mortal disease and passed away in January 1986. During his illness Larry asked Harold to continue the arts program and Harold promised he would. It was a promise kept … to this day. In 1990 Harold Maldonado had an idea that would lead to recognition as the top Boys & Girls Club program in cultural arts at the 1991 Boys & Girls Clubs of America national conference in Washington, D. C. The idea was the “K-Company” touring dance and vocal troupe, and they quickly became the public face of Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. Twenty-five years and hundreds of participants later, K-Company is still our window to the world. Early on Harold had a life-altering experience. He says: “I embraced the Boys Club code, inscribed on the back of my membership card, as my guide for life.” The code read: I believe in God andright the to right to I believe in God and the worship worship in myand ownreligion, faith and Ireligion, in my own faith believe in I believe in the Bill and the of the Bill of Rights and of theRights Constitution of Ithe United States, theConstitution United States, believe in fair play, I believe in fair play, honestly, and honestly, and sportsmanship, I believe in I believe in my Boysfor mysportsmanship, Boys & Girls Club which stands Girls Club which stands for all all & these things. these things. “It is an honor to continue to work with the best club members, staff and parents in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America national network. I am forever grateful.”
Harold Maldonado, Jr. reading to a young club member in the clubhouse library in 1970.
SNAPS HOTS IN TIME Frederic R. “Fritz” Coudert, with (l. to r.) Margaret Coudert, Cynthia Coudert and Sandra Coudert, at the 2002 opening of the ice rink of the Coudert Sports Complex at the Palmaro Clubhouse. Mr. Coudert, long-time Trustee and President, understood and practiced the classic Boys & Girls Club strategy: Build first rate sports facilities and programs and they will come – and also avail programming in education and career development, health and life skills, and civic and leadership development. Fritz gave this institution 46 years of pure passion. He was enormously generous, his spirit unconquerable. Our second Clubhouse, the first Boys & Girls Club in the West Bronx Heights, which opened in June 2010, is gratefully named the Frederic R. & Margaret Coudert Clubhouse.
Shown in this old photo is our swimming team with female “guests” circa 1978. While we were still a Boys Club, female “guests” were welcomed to the Clubhouse on Tuesday and Thursday nights (which often had the effect of increasing boys’ attendance as well). The Helen Hollerith Wing was added in 1983 to accommodate growing girl membership, which now totals 47% of membership. Adding the pool in 1976 was testimony to all that the leadership of the organization, with Manny Villafana as lead donor in the capital campaign to build it, cared about the youngsters and their community. The Club was a magnet for neighborhood boys, including 10-year-old Danny Quintero, who now had a club of their own to match the exclusive Shore Haven private club on nearby Long Island Sound whose membership fee their families could not afford.
SNAPS HOTS IN TIME To the left is the Comanche Torch Club circa 1972. Torch Clubs are the Boys & Girls Club program for 10- to 12-year-olds that develop civic awareness, leadership and personal responsibility. Teen club members have Keystone Club which addresses the same issues. Much club activity was organized around the 7 or 8 Torch Clubs that operated at that time. Torch Clubs chose their own name that was printed on tee shirts, chose officers and created by-laws, and competed as teams in sports programming. The experience was one of team building, developing friendships, and exploring new horizons. Twice a year Torch Clubs would have a Saturday overnight in the games room. The fireplace was ignited and youngsters stayed up until 2:00 am – camping without leaving the Bronx!
If you had substantial dealings with Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the past quarter century, you probably know, and admire, recently retired Administrative Director Yvette St. Just. She is that behind-the-scenes person – every wellrunning organization has one – who coordinates and holds so much together. Hired to work special events, Yvette became the contact, and often confident, at the club for a generation of Trustees, Junior Committee members, Women’s Committee and Special Event Committee members. Modestly, she gives full credit to our volunteer leadership for the great success of the Show House and other special events. “We (she and her staff teams) just did the mailings and managed the door” she says. At left, Yvette, second from left, poses with Debralee Nelson, Scott Gress and Susan Gress.
Thank You So Very Much SUPER CHAMPION - Over $1,000,000 New York City Department of Youth & Community Development
PLATINUM - $100,000 - $999,999 Boys & Girls Clubs of America Charles Hayden Foundation Ms. Cynthia Coudert & Mr. Brian Morris Mr. & Mrs. James P. Druckman Estate of Frederic R. Coudert, III Frederic R. Coudert Foundation Mr. Montague H. Hackett, Jr. House Beautiful - Kate Kelly Smith Mr. & Mrs. Charles H. Mott
New York Design Center NYC Department for the Aging NYC Human Resources Administration NYS Department of Health The Pinkerton Foundation Snowflake Foundation Dr. & Mrs. Manuel A. Villafaña The William Randolph Hearst Foundation
GOLD CIRCLE - $50,000 - $99,999 Architectural Digest - Margaret Russell Benjamin Moore & Company The Clark Foundation Cottages & Gardens Publications Crain & Ventolo Associates Gary P. Crain
Dacor - Kevin Henry DavosPharma - H. Barry Robins Estate of Betty B. Evans French - American Aid for Children Georgia Hiden Charitable Foundation HELP USA
The New York Community Trust New York Yankees Foundation Orinoco Foundation Mr. & Mrs. James B. Rosenwald, III The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
SILVER CIRCLE - $25,000 - $49,999 Lawrence B. Benenson Mr. Mario P. Borini Drake Design Associates, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Henry Fownes
Grand Kids Foundation, Inc. Curtis Granderson Kravet Inc. Michael L. Siden
The Vivint Gives Back Foundation Washington Square Fund
BENEFACTORS - $10,000 - $24,999 1stdibs.com Aerin AKDO Intertrade BNY Mellon Wealth Management Ms. Sarah L. Boles Brian J. McCarthy, Inc. Bunny Williams Incorporated Charles Pavarini, III Design Christopher Guy Cosentino/Silestone Design Within Reach Troy H. Gregory Mr. & Mrs. Scott A. Gress GTL Construction, LLC Angelo M. Monaco Mr. & Mrs. Gregory A. Hersch
The Highboy Ingrao, Inc. Interior Design Media Mr. & Mrs. Edward F. Kelly, Jr. Kirsten Kelli LLC Kohler Interiors L’Objet Mark Hampton LLC Mr. & Mrs. Curtis O. Minnis, Sr. Moore + Giles Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Ms. Debralee Nelson & Mr. Christopher Grimm The New York Palace Hotel New York State Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs
PNC Foundation Ralph Lauren Home Richard Mishaan Design Mr. & Mrs. Arthur M. Rogers, Jr. Rose M. Badgeley Residuary Charitable Trust Sanford L. Smith & Associates Cynthia V.A. Schaffner Mr. & Mrs. Robert K. Smits Lockhart Steele The New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund, Inc. Traditional Home Victoria Hagan Interiors William T. Georgis, Architect
Thank You So Very Much PATRONS - $3,000 - $9,999 1199/Employer Child Care Fund Mr. & Mrs. Nick Albano, Jr. Anthony Lawrence-Belfair The Atlantic Philanthropies, Inc. Christopher Peacock Christopher Spitzmiller, Inc. Clarkstown International The Coca-Cola Company Joseph Crowly Crown Products Cullman & Kravis, Inc. Daniel Romualdez Architects David Scott Interiors, Ltd Mr. & Mrs. Armand J. Del Medico Roger Einiger Fairmont Insurance Ferguson & Shamamian Architects, LLP
Jonathan Graham Mr. & Mrs. Paul S. Goldstein The Henry Laird Smith Foundation James Rixner Interiors Jenn-Air Joel & Lisa Benenson Foundation Inc. John Douglas Eason Interiors K.E.B. Pest Control, LLC - Edwin Beltran Kathy Abbott Interiors, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Francois J. Maisonrouge McMillen, Inc. - Elizabeth Pyne NYC Parks Foundation NZ Technologies Inc. Nourison Rug Corp. City Councilwomen Annabel Palma Pfizer Foundation The Port Authority of NY & NJ
Profiles Mrs. Caroline Cummings Rafferty Regina Caterers, Inc. Paul H. Ross S.W. Witter-Daire Harvey M. Schwartz The Seth Sprague Education & Charitable Foundation Ms. Patricia M. Sovern Steven A. & Alexandra M. Cohen Foundation TD Charitable Under Armour Verizon Foundation Victoria Hagan Interiors Villalobos Desio Young Huh LLC
FRIENDS - $1,000 - $2,999 @radical.media LLC Josephine Alger Mrs. Peter Allport Jeremy Anderson Andrew Suvalsky Designs Anonymous Gabe Antuna Ap Interiors Bernd Goeckler Antiques, Inc. Blair Design Alexander Brodsky Stacey Bronfman Calderin Sports Canard Inc. Joseph Carini / Carini Lang Linda K. Carlson Carrie and Company Century Case Goods Certified of N.Y. Inc. Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation Charlotte Moss Interior Design, LLC The Coca-Cola Company Coca Cola North America Coffinier Ku Design Compass Group Byron Cotton David Kleinberg Design Associates Design Development NYC Doris Leslie Blau, LLC Duralee Fabrics Ltd Mr. & Mrs. Patrick Duval E. Braun & Company Edmund D. Hollander Landscape Architect Design P.C. Enlighten Creative F. Schumacher & Co. F.S.I. of New York, Ltd
Felicia Zwebner Design Ferguson Cohen, LLP Ferris Foundation Mr. Elliot Gould Goya Foods, Inc. Ms. Antonia M. Grumbach Hansgrohe, Inc. Melissa Hawks Mr. & Mrs. Dennis S. Hersch Rod Hildebrant The H.O.P.E. for Youth Foundation Holly Hunt Inc. Lisa Jackson The Jewish Community Relations Council of NY John L. McHugh Foundation Jones Lang La Salle Americas Inc. Barbara M. Jordan Juan Montoya Design Kitchen Trader Nicholas Lewin Loeb & Troper, LLC LOM Property Consulting Lone Pine Foundation, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph M. Lopopolo Michael Lorber Luxe Interiors + Design Ms. Gigi Mahon Andy Maloney Manhattan Renovations Markham Roberts, Inc. Martin Printing Meyer Davis Studio, Inc. Mr. Gregory D. Miller Mr. & Mrs. Gary Moyer Nancy Boszhardt, Inc. New York Organ Donor Network Nicholas Martini Foundation
Nina Reeves Communications LLC Pamela Banker Associates, Inc. Peer T. Pederson Peter Pelsinski Pepsico Foundation Inc. Pierce Allen Inc. Jennifer Potter Kathy Prounis Pucci International Ltd. Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Quintero David A. Robins Rose Tarlow Melrose House Mr. Joseph Z. Rosenthal Rusk Restorations Sacco Carpet Corporation Mr. Stephen Salny Barbara A. Schwartz Charlotte Schwartz Shelly Tile, Inc. Sherrill Canet Interiors, Ltd William P. Short SilverLining Interiors, Inc. Megan Smythe Jay Snyder David Sprouls Stark Carpet Corporation Steven Stolman The Stuart Foundation Susan Zises Green, Inc. Taconic Builders Unity Electric Co., Inc. VDA Designs LLC Vicente Wolf Associates, Inc. White Fleishner & Fino, LLP Lynda Wiggins Thomas Xenos YMCA Retirement Fund
please remember us in your wills and trusts
AN ALUMNUS WRITES December 17th, 1969 Dear Mr. McNiven, As the Christmas season approaches … I find myself in Buenos Aires, Argentina … There is no snow, so we really “dream of a white Christmas.” It was just yesterday that I was commenting with a friend of mine, on my early years in your Boys’ Club. I was telling him what a Boys’ Club meant to me. I told him Boys’ Club is a line of 100 kids waiting at the door at 9 o’clock Saturday morning, that the door was the swimming pool … I told him that a Boys’ Club was better than the street. I told him that a Boys club was made up of men, of men who would build the character in the boys … of men trying to be fathers for those, like myself, who did not have a father. I told him that a Boys’ Club was a house of many rooms; a Boys’ Club was a library, a workshop, a game room, a study room, a wild life display room, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a dance hall. I told him that a Boys’ Club was a summer of fun. I told him that a Boys’ Club meant to me two weeks at camp, away from the slums of the Bronx. I told him that a Boys’ Club meant learning new skills at camp, and coming home brown as a berry from the sun. I told him that a Boys’ Club was a molder of youth … Manuel A. Villafana Manny Villafana, right behind, posing with other Kips Bay Boys Club members at the 52nd Street Clubhouse circa 1952 when he was 13 years old. The photo captures the protective big brother warmth for his peers that Manny exuded then, and which has remained in his character throughout his life. Years later, when he was the principal donor for the Palmaro Clubhouse swimming pool and asked to write an inscription for the pool plaque, he would write: “May God give us the wisdom, patience and love to mold the young men that this pool will bring us.” Looking at the photo now, and reflecting on his days as a club member, what the photo says to Manny is: Get kids off the street and you will accomplish everything that you want.
1973 - OUR SIGNATURE EVENT IS BORN
(l. to r.) Lisa Moseley, Sandra McConnell, Marjorie Deane, Helen Hollerith, Ritchey Goodwin, Mary Bland and Pat Beavers, Women’s Committee members, meeting in one of their East Side apartments in the early 1970’s.
The Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Decorator Show House, our signature event, annual East Side rite of spring, and paean to the high-end home design industry was born in 1973 – the inspired creation of the Woman’s Committee. The previous autumn the Women’s Committee voted to change their method of fundraising. For many years their spring event was a dinner dance. Aware of the success of Show Houses in St. Louis and San Francisco, the committee resolved to lease a grand New York City townhouse, invite a group of decorators to participate, create a guide book or journal, hold a gala opening reception, and charge admission to the public to view the house during its one month run. And it worked -- immediately becoming our largest source of annual income, and remains so today, in its 43rd consecutive year. Let us quote from a 1983 letter written to all Women’s Committee members on the completion of that year’s Show House: There is no doubt that theBay KipsBoys Bay & Boys & Girls Decorator has There is no doubt that the Kips Girls Club Club Decorator Show Show HouseHouse has become the become the best andShow most House prestigious House in the if not theand world. Toon that best and most prestigious in theShow country, if not thecountry, world. To stop reflect stopofand reflect that assertion, of being very the bestquite at anything, is to realize the assertion, being the on very best at anything, is tothe realize extraordinary accomplishment quite extraordinary accomplishment we have attained as an organization… we have attained as an organization… We thank the many hundreds of Show House supporters and participants who, year after year, continue to validate this assertion.
Trustees* James P. Druckman, President Cynthia Coudert, Vice President Daniel W. Dienst, Vice President Scott A. Gress, Vice President Gary P. Crain Armand J. Del Medico Brian E. Flaherty Gregory A. Hersch Edward F. Kelly Ketty Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge
Curtis O. Minnis, Sr., Vice President/Secretary Debralee Nelson, Vice President/Treasurer Cynthia V. A. Schaffner, Secretary Richard Mishaan Angelo M. Monaco Mrs. Charles H. Mott Elizabeth Pyne H. Barry Robins Margaret Russell
Michael L. Siden Robert K. Smits Patricia M. Sovern Lockhart Steele Nathaniel Brent Tollison
Honorary Trustees Mrs. E. Albert Berol† Mario P. Borini Mrs. Henry Fownes Montague H. Hackett, Jr.
Harry Hinson† Arthur M. Rogers, Jr. Paul H. Ross Hon. Leslie Crocker Snyder
John R. Suydam, Jr. Dr. Manuel A. Villafaña Mrs. Manuel A. Villafaña Mrs. John G. Winslow
Senior Staff Daniel Quintero, Executive Director Yvonne K. Brown, Director of Operations Yosef Korn, Controller Jose Rodriguez, Director of Community Center Programs Harold Maldonado, Area Director – Frederic R. & Margaret Coudert & Lucile Palmaro Clubhouses
Tony Santiago, Director of Foundation and Government Giving Nazira Handal-Poffel, Director of Special Events Yvette St. Just, Director of Administrative Affairs Jody Saltzman, Legal Counsel
* for FY 2014 † deceased
Playing knock hockey and skelly in the Manhattan Clubhouse games room circa 1941.
Summary of Income and Expenses For year ended September 30, 2014
Revenue:
Income Sources 6% Camp Fees & Other
Special Events: Government Grants: Foundations: Individuals: Camp fees and other support: Corporations: Total:
$1,740,407 4,177,650 1,232,322 264,442 443,265 133,888 7,991,974
2% Corporations
3% Individuals
22% Special Events
15% Foundations
52% Government Grants
Expenses:
Program Service Expenses
Education: Career and Character Development: Sports, Fitness & Health: Social Recreation & The Arts: Camp: Senior Center: Total:
3,863,071 1,153,904 519,999 741,922 261,130 332,128 6,872,154
4% Camp
5% Senior Center
11% Social Recreation & the Arts
8% Sports, Fitness & Health
56% Education
17% Career & Character Development
Supporting Services:
Expense Distribution
Administration: Fundraising and public relations: Total Supporting Services:
942,688 1,336,611 2,279,299
Total Expenses:
$9,151,453
Ending Net Asset Balance:
15% Fundraising & Public Relations
10% Administration
$28,918,563 75% Program Services
The accounts of Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Inc. for fiscal year 2014 have been examined by Loeb & Troper, L.L.P., Certified Public Accountants. Detailed figures are available upon request including figures on Investments and Capital Improvements. Annual operating deficits, if any, are addressed with transfers from endowment resources. Debralee Nelson, Treasurer
KE Y F INDI NGS of 2014 OUTCOME MEASUREMENT REPORT • Club members continued to outperform their district, school and grade-level peers on the 2014 NYS tests in English Language Arts (ELA) and math. This result has remained constant since we began the comparison in 2012. • A high percentage of our high school seniors graduate on time (93%). Of the graduates the highest percentage enters college (63%). Others are looking for work, going to a trade school, or entered military. • The Bronx is a haven for immigrants, the U. S. Census reporting in 2010 that the Bronx is the most diverse county in the United States. Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club fulfills its mission to serve youngsters who need us most, in part, by enrolling substantial numbers of immigrants’ children. For example, at PS 67 54% of the sample are the children of foreign born parents (not including those of parents born in Puerto Rico). At PS 140 22% of parents were born in the Dominican Republic, 18% in sub-Saharan Africa, 12% in Mexico or Central America and 7% in the West Indies or Jamaica. At PS 304, 22% were born in Ecuador, 13% in Asia, 5% in Guyana and 4% in Albania. •
Members utilize their Club extensively, 85.6% reporting that they attend every day the Club is open.
• Club members’ favorite activities are the sports and fitness programs, followed by performing arts, education and leadership clubs. When asked to name the best thing that happened to them at Kips Bay, members chose making new friends first, followed by going on field trips, parties, recognition for success in competitions, interacting with staff, and summer day camp. • This report includes selected data from our first alumni survey, conducted on-line. Among the findings: 28% say the club saved their life, 28% became more committed to their education; and only 4% failed to obtain a high school diploma, while 28% completed some college, and 36% earned a BA, MA or professional degree. • All 47 current scholarship recipients -- 27 college students and 20 high school students -- were surveyed. Their average college GPA is 3.25. Their high school cumulative average is 89.8%. Their favorite activity at Kips Bay was/is the education program, including, for many, tutoring other youngsters as part of the service commitment for scholarship holders. Their average length of Kips Bay membership is 7.7 years. • A high percentage of scholarship recipients’ parents are foreign born, including 16% Jamaican, 7% from Trinidad and Tobago; 5% African, and 5% from Guyana. This finding suggests the sociological observation that immigrants and children of immigrants may work especially hard to succeed.
Executive Director’s Message
A CENTURY OF IMPACT This year Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club celebrates its 100th anniversary -- a century of impacting children, changing lives and saving lives. Today we serve over 10,000 young people at nine Bronx locations and a rustic camp. The challenges faced by young people today may be a bit more complex than when we opened our door 100 years ago in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan, but their basic needs remain the same: A safe place to go, a sense of selfworth and belonging, finding a passion and pursuing it. The genius of Boys & Girls Clubs begins each day when a youngster walks through our door and is greeted by the same staff member asking how they are feeling, if they have had anything to eat, and if they have any homework to do. Simple questions. And, over time, life-changing questions for a population where almost 60% come from single-parent homes, 50% won’t graduate high school, and too many will end up incarcerated, as unwed parents or on drugs. Over the last century we have become more sophisticated with technology and a lot more educational and employment programs, but our guiding principle remains preparing our children for the challenges of tomorrow. It’s encouraging to learn from our outcome surveys that we continue to graduate 85 to 90% of all seniors surveyed, and 55 to 60% of them end up going to college -- both figures well above the average in Bronx high schools. This is the real return on investment that empowers our children, fuels our economy and keeps our neighborhoods and communities vibrant and productive Over the last 18 years my goal has been to give as many children as possible the Kips Bay experience that shaped me as a child. It is you – our donor family and voluntary leadership -- who do so much to give me this privilege and I am indebted to you forever.
Daniel Quintero Executive Director
A young Daniel Quintero playing baseball at Kips Bay.
Last Manhattan Clubhouse at 301 East 52nd Street
THANK YOU Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club stands on the shoulders of thousands of patrons, friends and volunteers who make, and have made, our mission possible. We could not thank all of you in these pages. To all that we could not name, please accept “The Bridge Builder” as our love song to you. It hangs in the Lucile Palmaro Clubhouse lobby, in grateful tribute to the generosity of the “bridge builders” who built our new home in the Bronx in 1969. An old man going a lone highway, Came, at the evening cold and gray, To a chasm vast and deep and wide Through which was flowing a sullen tide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim, The sullen stream had no fear for him; But he turned when safe on the other side And built a bride to span the tide. “Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near, “You are wasting your strength with building here; Your journey will end with the ending day, You never will again pass this way; You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide, Why build this bridge at eventide?”
The builder lifted his old grey head; “Good friend, in the path I have come,’ he said, “There followed after me today A youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that has been as naught for me To that aspiring lad may a pitfall be; He, to, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!’ The Bridge Builder Will Allen Dromogoole