ILWU / PMA Luncheon 2014

Mike Lansing with ILWU Local 13 President Robert Olvera Jr. 

Our San Pedro Boys & Girls Club alumni, Harbor Commissioner

Anthony Pirozzi and Councilman Joe Buscaino.

On June 6, we held our 9th Annual ILWU / PMA Luncheon at our Port of LA Boys & Girls Club. Amidst current high-stakes contract negotiations between the two organizations, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) once again came together to break bread and raise funds for Los Angeles Harbor youth.

Our Arts Academy jazz band entertained guests in the lobby which had been turned into a fine arts gallery, showcasing some of our students' best work from the previous semester. The band from Harry Bridges Span School opened the luncheon for over 350 attendees. The band practices after school in our Club programming at that site thanks to a grant and brand new instruments from the ILWU Local 13.

Harbor Commissioner Anthony Pirozzi served as guest speaker and addressed the attendees about the importance of supporting Club youth. He reminded them that, "together we are their inspiration," and that the purpose of the luncheon is to, "take our kids to an even greater level than our own."

Executive Director Mike Lansing thanked the unions and the shippers for coming together every year and raising funds that allow the Club to serve even more community youth. "We need to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow," he said in closing.

Thanks to our in-kind sponsors for serving up a delicious feast for our guests - Mike's BBQ and Ports O'Call Restaurant.

Mike Lansing presenting PMA Area Manager Ron Merical with a

token of appreciation from our youth. All sponsors of the

luncheon received a work of art from our Arts Academy.

Our Arts Academy jazz band entertaining the guests in our fine arts gallery.

Harry Bridges Span School Boys & Girls Club band.

Celebrating Literacy

On March 3, we celebrated Read Across America 2014 by the National Education Association and Dr. Seuss's birthday with events marking the importance of childhood literacy. As part of our Triple A Strategy, we are committed to helping our youth excel in reading comprehension. Coincidentally our two events centered around books about traveling and exploring new lands.

San Pedro Honorary Mayor Kathy Carcamo celebrating 

Dr. Seuss's birthday with our Port of LA Club youth.

Our Port of LA Boys & Girls Club Director Sonia Espinoza organized a special reading event to commemorate what would have been the 110 birthday of Dr. Seuss. San Pedro Honorary Mayor Kathy Carcamo attended to read Oh, the Places You'll Go to our elementary school youth. Our Club members also created their own Cat in the Hat top hats as part of the celebration.

United Way of Greater Los Angeles sponsored our Read Across America event at our Wilmington Boys & Girls Club. Michael Smith attended to read his book, What in the World!: Wild, Weird, and Wonderful Adventures of a Wanderer about his travels around the world. Our middle school and high school youth heard first hand about Mr. Smith's adventures through 30 countries and what he learned during his travels.

Michael Smith sharing his book with the help of one of our students.

We celebrate literacy every day at our Clubs with tutoring in reading, activities to help increase reading comprehension, book clubs for our middle and high school youth and expansion of our Early Literacy Program. We could not accomplish this without the support of organizations and volunteers who help us improve the quality of our programs and reach more youth.

Youth of the Year

Youth of the Year Brittany Barksdale with her family.

On January 9, we hosted our annual Youth of the Year competition to select our official youth representative for 2014. The event included the Youths of the Year for our San Pedro Club, Port of LA Club and Wilmington Club competing for the coveted spot. We are proud to announce that Port of LA Club member, Brittany Barksdale is the 2014 Youth of the Year for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor. 

In November and December of last year, our three Clubs held their own Youth of the Year competitions to select an exemplary youth who would represent their Clubs. Brittany was chosen by the Port of LA Club in December and by our organization earlier this month due to her hard work and strong values. She is a senior at Port of LA High School where she is the president of the Black Student Union and member of the cheer team. At the Port of LA Club, she serves as president of the Keystone group, leading her peers in volunteer activities for the community. Brittany will go on to represent our organization at the Youth of the Year competition for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles County and, if successful, will continue to compete in additional regional competitions.

The Youth of the Year competition is designed for the most dedicated youths in our organization. Ashley Escobedo was selected as the Youth of the Year for our San Pedro Club where she serves as president of her Keystone group and works part time in our high school center. She is a senior at CALPAC charter high school. Crystal Cabello was selected as the Youth of the Year for our Wilmington Club where she works part time as a staff and role model to our elementary school youth. She attends Long Beach City College and is also part of her Club's Keystone group. All three Youths of the Year demonstrate our mission in their daily activities. We are very proud of their accomplishments!

Selecting our Youth of the Year was a challenging process for our volunteer judges. A special thanks to Eileen Hupp of the Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce, Betsy Brien of Phillips 66, Steve Faichney of Valero and Rosa Pesenti of Xerox who selected our Youth of the Year as well as Ryan Ferguson and Gabriela Medina of Councilmember Joe Buscaino's Office, Isaac Finch of Fin-wall & Associates, George Mayer of Coastline Equity, Oscar Salcedo of I Heart Wilmington, Joseph Kuban of LAPD Sheriffs' Dept. and Alma Ortiz of Hojas Tea House & Cafe for serving as judges at the individual Club competitions.

All three Youths of the Year from our organization.

Meet The Challenge

Since 1937, we have been meeting the challenge. At 15 sites in San Pedro and Wilmington, we help over 12,000 youth reach their full potential in academics, arts and athletics.

Now we need you to join us and Meet the Challenge!

A generous, anonymous donor has offered a one-time challenge matching grant of $250,000 that will enable us to significantly expand our programming and the number of youth we serve. For every new or upgraded donation, our champion of youth will match dollar for dollar up to $250,000.  That means if you make a new donation of $100 today, your impact will be doubled to $200 automatically.

Please help us Meet The Challenge and donate at www.bgclaharbor.org/give/donate, call our Development Department at (310) 833-1322 ext. 242 or 230, or mail in the form at the this link with your donation to:

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor

1200 S. Cabrillo Avenue

San Pedro, CA 90731

We greatly appreciate your support in helping us sustain and grow our programming. We could not continue to provide educational opportunities and a safe haven to Harbor area youth without your generosity.

Over 2,400 Thanksgiving Meals Served at Our Clubs

Every year, we host Thanksgiving Dinners at our Clubs including the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club, Wilmington Boys & Girls Club, Port of Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club and, this year for the first time, the new Harry Bridges Span School Club site in Wilmington. Open to all youth members of the Club and their families, the annual Thanksgiving Dinners offer families the opportunity to come together and celebrate as a community. 

Our Arts Academy band entertaining the community at our Wilmington Club dinner.

Attendees ate their dinner with the all of the trimmings in our Club gyms decked out with seasonal decorations. Live music was provided by our Arts Academy musicians and there were presentations by Club youth about what they are thankful for.

National Charity League mother-daughter volunteers at our San Pedro Club dinner.

The National Charity League Palos Verdes Chapter, Palos Verdes Rotary, San Pedro Rotary and Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief of Staff and Club Board member John Vidovich donated all of the turkeys and hams for the over 2,400 meals that were served at the four dinners from November 19 to November 22. Bonert’s Slice of Pie in Santa Ana donated all of the pumpkin pies served at the dinners.

National Charity League Ticktocker taking family portraits.

Volunteers from both Rotary groups attended the dinner at our newest site at Harry Bridges Span School to assist in serving. National Charity League mother-daughter team volunteers assisted at the San Pedro Club dinner and the Wilmington Club dinner, serving meals and taking family portraits for attendees to have a keepsake of the evening. Student volunteers from Marymount California University who are currently assisting with our programming, volunteered as servers at the Port of Los Angeles Club dinner. The Port of Los Angeles employee band even donated their time to entertain our families at our Port of Los Angeles Club dinner.

For some of the families we serve, this is the only hot meal they will be able to have together this season. Thanks to generous organizations like National Charity League, Rotary and individuals like John Vidovich we were able to ensure that all of our youth were given the opportunity to have a great Thanksgiving.

A Port of Los Angeles Club family enjoying their Thanksgiving.

Our San Pedro Club community celebrating Thanksgiving.

College Bound Workshops for Our High School Seniors

College Bound Director Yesenia Aguilar and her coordinators have been very busy these last couple of months making sure our seniors have all the tools they need to fill out their college applications. Every Monday through Saturday, our College Bound Centers at our San Pedro Club, Wilmington Club and Port of Los Angeles Club have been packed with high school students, especially seniors, preparing their applications with the support of our College Bound coordinators and case managers.

A College Bound tutor helps two high school seniors with their personal statements.

Deadlines for college and scholarship applications are closing in and we have been making sure that our students have the knowledge they need to turn in excellent applications. Our College Bound coordinators and case managers provide 1-on-1 mentoring to all of our College Bound students including our high school seniors which is needed now more than ever.

One way we have been assisting our high school seniors is with two workshops per week that walk our students through the entire college application process. The workshops have been attended by up to 80 seniors at each Club and topics range from "Selecting a College" to "Personal Statement Writing" to "Filling Out the UC Application."

High school seniors at our San Pedro Club take notes at a College Bound workshop on the UC application process. 

As a start to the application season, we hung up our "Wall of Fame" at each Club. The Wall displays pictures of our seniors. Once their acceptance letters start coming in, we will add the name of the colleges they were accepted to under their pictures. It has always been a very proud moment for our seniors to list the colleges that have accepted them under their pictures. We look forward to starting the process again this year!

Our previous College Bound Wall of Fame.