Since 1944, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida has provided children from the local community between the ages of 6-18 with a safe place to learn and grow. Thanks to the support and commitment of many corporate and individual friends, we are able to celebrate our successes of the past year. 

In 2012, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida reached significant milestones:

Our membership totaled nearly 13,000 children at our 16 Clubs and 13 middle school sites in Brevard, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties.

• Academic Success: At the end of the 2011-12 school year, 100% of all Club members who were high school seniors graduated, while 97% of all other members were promoted to the next grade level. 67% of graduates are attending a four-year college, 19% are attending a two-year college, 3% are enrolled in a vocational school, and 11% have joined the U.S. Military.

 

At the end of the last school year, of Club members surveyed, 91% achieved a 2.0 or better; 53% achieved a 3.0 or better; and 10% had a perfect 4.0 GPA.

 

• Good Character & Citizenship: During 2012, of our nearly 13,000 members, three were arrested.  In comparison, 5,749 juveniles made up 10% of all arrests in Brevard, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties during the first six months of 2012 (Florida Department of Law Enforcement).

 

• Healthy Lifestyles: In 2012, there were two (2) pregnancies among the 4,980 female members ages 10-18 of Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida.  There were 1,290 babies born to girls 18 and younger in Brevard, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties (Florida Department of Health, Vital Statistics).

 

• Good News: We hosted a construction kick-off for our newest Club in Brevard County. The upcoming Cocoa Branch will be approximately 10,000 square feet, enabling us to serve about 400 children each year and doubling the total number of children currently served in the Brevard Community.

 

In January 2012, we moved into our new Syd & Marianne Levy Service Center–a 10,000 square foot workplace for our Administrative Team in the heart of Downtown Orlando.

 

Demographics: 53% male, 47% female; 44% African-American, 29% Hispanic, 13% Caucasian, 7% Multi-Racial, 5% Haitian, and 2% Asian-American; 45% came from single-parent families; 75% were eligible for free or reduced school lunch; and 69% came from families with annual household incomes of $30,000 or less.

Florida TaxWatch Study:

According to a Florida TaxWatch Study released in April 2008, Boys & Girls Clubs help young members succeed academically in many ways, including:

• Overall achievement levels in terms of learning gains in reading and mathematics for Club members was greater than that of their peer reference group or the state population;
• Club members had lower rates of absenteeism at all grades levels and significantly lower rates of serious criminal offenses;
• Club members had a dropout rate lower than both peer reference groups and state student population.View the Florida TaxWatch Special Report.