Friday, April 28, 2023 at 5:30 Check-In & Social & 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Boys & Girls Club of Merced County 615 West 15th Street Merced, CA 95340
Over Early thirty years ago, a group of caring citizens came together to create a safe place for the boys and girls in Merced County. In 1993, Boys and Girls Club of Merced County was officially incorporated as a nonprofit organization to serve this purpose. Through local support and generosity from businesses and supporters such as yourself, thirty years later Boys and Girls Club of Merced County is proud to say we are still here to continue to serve as the beacon of hope for our children and a place where dreams are actualized.
Over the past three decades we have served thousands of youth from all walks of life and we plan to serve thousands more in the next 30 plus years. As we continue this journey, like our founders, we will have to make bold decisions about sustainability, expansion and reimagine how the Boys and Girls Club will support our youth, our families and our community. It is our hope you will join our efforts by providing your talent, treasure(s) and time beginning with our annual dinner and auction fundraiser.
To commemorate our 30th year anniversary, our annual dinner will be held on:
Our theme this year, “Legends Are Made Here”, is a tribute to the success of our past members and the aspirations of current members’ dreams yet to be achieved.
We hope we can count on you to help our children discover and live out their dreams by attending our fundraiser and/or making a generous donation – because we believe every single child in Merced County can be great and will do whatever it takes to make great futures.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 209-722-9922.
Boys & Girls Club receives youth advocacy award
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Merced County has received a Tier 2 Hero of Youth Award from the national Boys & Girls Clubs of America for their advocacy on behalf of California’s youth.
“Clubs like ours have a unique role as community leaders in providing valuable after school programs to our country’s youth that enable them to achieve great futures,” said Rosa Kindred-Winzer, Board President. “We are wholly committed to raising the visibility of the needs of our community youth, especially the ones who need us most, and show what we can accomplish with the support of our elected officials and our community.”
For the kids and teens who enter the Club each day, the work Clubs do truly make a difference and transform their lives for the better. Through continued advocacy, the Club aims to prioritize legislative policies including: Youth Workforce Readiness Act, securing additional investments in Trauma-Informed Care supports for youth, continue to increase federal support for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Youth Mentoring initiatives, and increase accessibility and efficiency of vital meal programs.
Boy & Girls Club advocates are guided by the Agenda for America’s Youth, an advocacy platform outlining the pressing problems facing our nation’s youth as well as solutions that will make the most difference in our young people’s present and future. Boys & Girls Clubs’ advocacy builds upon a commitment to increasing opportunities for all young people by ensuring their voices are heard in communities and at the state and federal level as Boys & Girls Clubs champion policies and solutions that will have the greatest impact on the youth of this country.
“Because of the steadfast advocacy of leaders like Boys & Girls Club of Merced County, our nation’s youth have access to skills and experiences that can put them on the path to great futures,” said Jim Clark, CEO & President of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “These successes aren’t possible without a strong partnership with elected officials at the local, State and Federal levels. I commend the Boys & Girls Club of Merced County for their tireless work on behalf of their community’s youth and congratulate them on this much-deserved recognition.”
The Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Club Advocacy Engagement Recognition Program recognizes the advocacy work Clubs and Alliances do every day, with a major emphasis on impact, creativity and innovation. The program consists of three tiers for Clubs: Advocate, Hero and Champion. Clubs get points for impactful engagements and those points determine what tier a Club is placed.
“Boys & Girls Clubs champion opportunities for all youth, equipping young people with the experiences and tools they need to succeed,” said See Lee, CEO. “Our advocacy isn’t just a one-day event. We are raising our voices every single day, to ensure top issues and solutions impacting young people are prioritized in our community, our state and at the national level.”
Boys & Girls Club Welcomes New Leadership
By Jonathan Whitaker
Supporters of the Merced County Boys & Girls Club have been looking for just the right person to energize the organization, and lead it into a new era, especially after a rough couple of years with the pandemic and all.
Well, they may have just found the perfect person.
See Lee is the new CEO of the well-known youth center located at the corner of 15th and M streets.
She was raised in Merced. She has spent many years working with disenfranchised youth and families in the region. And she’s a proud mother of three children.
She is also the first Hmong / Asian American woman to ever hold the CEO role at the local Boys & Girls Club, and quite possibly the national organization’s first in the Central Valley, or even the state.
“Twenty years ago the founders of the Boys & Girls Club envisioned a youth center that would bring our community together to support our boys and girls,” Lee told the Times. “Today I am excited and humbled for the opportunity to build on their work and continue their momentum.”
She certainly has some credentials to do so.
Lee graduated from Merced College with an AA in University Studies.
She earned a BA in Political Science from California State University of Stanislaus. And then she received her MBA from California State University of Fresno.
She is a licensed Health and Life Agent, and most recently, she has operated a marketing and outreach consulting business for over five years serving businesses in the Central Valley. See was previously employed with Equus Workforce Solutions as an Operations and Program Manager where she provided management to a multi-million, federally funded workforce training and development program.
As a Career Educator for the Empower and Youth Opportunity Program, Lee worked with industry leaders to provide employment training to opportunity-youth between the ages of 16-21.
She also worked for Valley Community School in various capacities in implementing gang and teen pregnancy intervention and prevention programs serving the most challenged students in Merced County. As the Hub Coordinator for Building Healthy Communities (BHC), she worked with elected officials, stakeholders, agencies, and families to create a more supportive, healthy, and safe environment for children to learn and thrive through grant funding and policy & systems change. In working with businesses across the region, she worked to increase economic vitality in Merced County through expansion of passenger rail services and provide access to state funded resources for small businesses.
See is an alumni for American Leadership Forum (ALF) Great Valley Chapter. She was selected to serve on the Police Advisory Committee (PAC) to review the Merced Police Department policies and procedures and was appointed by the Merced City Council to serve as a Commissioner for the Independent Districting Advisory Committee (IDAC) to draw the first set of city election districts for Merced.
See has served on the Multicultural Promises Board of Directors, which among many goals, try to deter young women from joining gangs or seek to provide interventions for those who are gang members. She was the past President of Southeast Asian-American Professional Association, an organization that has awarded over $80,000 in scholarships to Southeast Asian students and sought to create a network for businesses, working professionals, and students across the Central Valley region.
See was a former member of Merced Golden Lions, Associate Member of the Vietnam Veterans, Board Member for United Way of Merced County and Healthy House, and served as an intern for former Congressman Dennis Cardoza. She was the Co-Founder of a grassroots organization called Hmong Movement Organizing for the Next Generation (HMONG), which strives to enrich the lives of Hmong by promoting self-sufficiency through education, community collaboration, civic engagement and cultural preservation in order to provide advanced opportunities for the next generation. Subsequently, she has worked with other Hmong community leaders to implement numerous programs including dual language pilot programs for young children preparing for their first entrance into school and coordinated the first Hmong Women and Hmong Law Enforcement conferences in Merced.
The Merced County Boys & Girls Club continues to have affordable, year-round programming that aims to “build great futures.” This is a place where all local kids have the opportunity to gain additional academic support, experience character and leadership development, grow socioemotional skills, learn about culture and the arts, and of course, enjoy sports and games.
The club membership fee for young people is only $20 a year. Find out more online at: bgcmerced.org. The Boys & Girls Club is located at 615 W. 15th Street in downtown Merced. Call 209-722-9922.
