Palos Verdes Young Professionals Exposing our College Bound Teens to Career Paths

Every year, the Palos Verdes Young Professionals of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce select a Nonprofit of the Year from Chamber members. This year, we have the honor of being that nonprofit organization.

As their first project for our Clubs, the PVYP coordinated a career fair for our high school students at the Wilmington Boys & Girls Club on May 8 with close to 100 high school students attending.

Often when youth attend career fairs, they tend to gravitate toward just one industry without learning about the opportunities in a different field. The PVYP Committee planned for the event to expose youth to several different career paths. They recruited volunteers for a multi-panel event where high school students attended three panel sessions representing different industries. 

College Bound students at the Wilmington and San Pedro Clubs prepared with career assessment tests to alert them to different industries they should be exploring. The whole experience really opened our high school members' eyes to different career and educational opportunities as they enter the next stage of their lives.

Special thanks to our PVYP volunteers who helped the event run smoothly and volunteer panelists who shared their experiences in the fields of Business, Engineering, Health & Wellness, Hospitality, Entertainment and Film Production.

Jordan Baronfeld, Miyako Hybrid Hotel

College Bound youth speaking with an Engineering panelist

during the mixer of our PVYP Career Fair.

Deena Knight, Daily Breeze
Mark J. Doddy, RPVtv
Mike Merell, Disney/Pixar
Sinisa Straser, GlenAir
Deep Patel, GigaWatt
Robert Castellanos, Nano H2O
George Walker, Vistage
Lauren Spiglanin, The Remedy Pharm
Dr. Dave Pommerenck, Pommerenck Chiropractic


*Photos courtesy of PVYP.

PVYP Committee, PVYP volunteers and BGCLAH staff celebrating their collaboration for our youth.

Kory Minor Visits the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club

It's always a great inspiration for our youth to meet a Boys & Girls Club alumnus who accomplished greatness in the face of adversity. Yesterday, entrepreneur and former NFL linebacker, Kory Minor visited our San Pedro Club to tell his story, starting with the decisions he made as a young athlete.
 

Kory Minor with some excited fans at our Club!

Kory is a former All-American football linebacker originally from Los Angeles. In his senior year of high school, he was named Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today. He went on to the University of Notre Dame where he was a 4-year star on defense and team captain. In his professional career he played for the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers. 

Like many of our members, Kory was faced with distractions while trying to accomplish his goals. He was raised by a single mother and, although he dreamed of one day playing for Notre Dame, he knew his family couldn't afford to send him to his dream school. Kory had two options: either give up on his dream or commit to it. Kory chose to commit and spoke to our young athletes about the importance of committing to a dream and working hard for that dream.

"Whatever you are dreaming now is possible if you commit to believe and commit to work."

Kory Minor speaking at the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club.

Kory also spoke about the friends he lost in high school because he was so focused on his goal. He stayed away from anything that could distract him like drinking, smoking or doing drugs and only spent time with people who didn't fall into those behaviors. When he was named Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today, he proved wrong everyone who didn't believe in him and was awarded a full scholarship to Notre Dame.

Today, Kory is a motivational speaker, business strategist and a five store franchisee of Domino's Pizza where he took his franchise company from $600,000 in sales to nearly $4 million as an owner. He motivates individuals and organizations as CEO of Kory Minor Industries. Kory spoke of the importance of valuing education as he did when he utilized his degree in business to create a legacy for himself.

Thanks to Kory for sharing the valuable lessons he learned on his journey from young hopeful athlete to NFL player and successful business owner.

Wilmington Boys & Girls Club Celebrates Women’s History Month

Gabriela Medina, Cecilia Moreno and Lupe Lopez participating in our panel event.

March is Women’s History Month and our Wilmington Club celebrated by commemorating local female leaders in the Los Angeles Harbor area who inspire our youth. Our Keystone student leadership group coordinated a panel event with Cecilia Moreno, Port of LA Community Affairs Advocate, Lupe Lopez, United Way of Greater Los Angeles Administrative Coordinator, and Gabriela Medina, Field Deputy for Councilmember Joe Buscaino, as moderator.

Our Keystone created table center pieces honoring 

celebrated women throughout history.

Our Keystone group prepared the event with guidance from Wilmington Club High School Center Director Hilda Chacon. Tables were decorated with center pieces honoring famous women throughout history at this afternoon event for our youth, staff and board members.

Ms. Medina lead the panel asking Ms. Moreno and Ms. Lopez about the decisions they made in their youth to accomplish greatness. Both have strong ties to the Wilmington community and have each served as Honorary Mayor of Wilmington. They both expressed admiration for our Club’s College Bound program and stressed the importance of hard work in the face of adversity. They advised our youth to find what they love to do and develop their skills whether they choose to go to a traditional college after graduation or seek other paths.

Our youth thanking our guests for attending the panel.

After the final audience question, Keystone youth thanked our panelists and moderator for attending and serving as such great inspirations to our members. Ms. Medina closed the panel, speaking to the importance of community service organizations like the Boys & Girls Club that offer community youth opportunities to reach their full potential. We know that the girls and boys who attended left inspired after hearing the panelists’ stories of success.

Eric Fonoimoana Shares His Olympic Gold Story

Yesterday, our Port of Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club was visited by local Olympic gold medalist, Eric Fonoimoana. Over 100 kids from the Club and from our Barton Hill Elementary School site gathered in the gym overlooking the Port to meet Eric and hear his story of triumph.

Like many of our Club members, Eric is a South Bay resident born and raised. At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney he and his partner Dain Blanton won the gold medal in beach volleyball. Eric has played professionally for more than eighteen years and has won at least one tournament for seven straight years between 1998 and 2004.

Eric Fonoimoana helps our kids win in the tug-of-war competition

After a spirited tug-of-war competition organized by Eric, the kids settled down to watch a short movie showing the famous moment when he made the final block over the net sealing the gold medal win for Dain and himself. Our youth saw Eric’s medal ceremony as the star spangled banner played over Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Eric revealed to our kids that he was only seven years old when he saw his sister win the silver medal in swimming at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and decided that he would do whatever it took to get to the Olympics. He is the youngest of six siblings who introduced him to volleyball as a child and challenged him to develop his athletic skills. From playing sports to doing simple chores, Eric was brought up to always finish what he started. He gave every challenge his best effort and never quit half-way through. Eric explained that it was his hard work and determination to never give up that led him to Olympic gold.

Our Club kids were thrilled to see Eric’s gold medal and were inspired by his story. As the kids passed in front of Eric to see his medal, one middle school girl informed him that she was working hard as a gymnast and wanted to go to the Olympics. Two girls from our Port of Los Angeles Club Teen Center who play on POLA High School’s volleyball team attended the event after practice to meet Eric.

Thanks so much to Eric Fonoimoana for visiting our Club and sharing his story and to our supporters at Wells Fargo for helping arrange the visit. More information about Eric and his non-profit foundation, Dig 4 Kids Education Foundation which provides academic and athletic opportunities to youth in low-income communities, can be found at www.dig4kids.org. 

New volleyballs for our Club kids donated by Dig 4 Kids