Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Alabama
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Alabama (BGCCA) is a network of youth clubs in Alabama affiliated with the national "Boys & Girls Clubs of America" program. Headquartered at 3821 Williamson Drive in Hueytown, the organization provides after school and summer programs ranging from health and recreation to career education and leadership. Tom Cleckler is the president and CEO.
In addition to its main center in Hueytown, the BGCCA network currently operates clubs in Brookside, Jasper, Montevallo, Pell City, Warrior, Bessemer's Terrace Manor and on Springville Road in Birmingham.
William Houghton, N. B. Feagin, Rufus Rhodes and three society women founded the organization as the Birmingham Boys Club in 1901. The organization offered recreation, meals and baths to orphaned boys living on the city's streets. It became a founding member of the national Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1906.
Then-president Maurice Willows made a presentation on the club's successes to the 1911 National Child Labor Committee Conference in Birmingham.
From 1960 to 2006 the BGCCA operated Camp Jimmy Goodwin on Smith Lake in northeast Walker County.
The club opened a new $3 million Tom & Gean Cleckler Teen Center at its Hueytown headquarters on June 25, 2013.
References
- Poe, Ryan (May 18, 2012) "Boys & Girls Club plans $3M expansion at Hueytown HQ." Birmingham Business Journal
External links
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Alabama website
- BGCCA on Facebook.com