A Grand Slam For Supporters

Join us at the Baker Baseball Field to celebrate our “Home Runs for Club Members” campaign and help our members continue their winning streak!

This year’s baseball-themed Grand Slam Luncheon will be held Monday, Oct. 18 on the turf of the Baker Baseball Field at the Nichols Campus in Naples.

Help our student members hit a grand slam while you live out your own big-league dreams! The cost to attend the Grand Slam Luncheon is $50 per person and includes lunch, drinks, baseball-related festivities and inspiration. Proceeds will benefit the “Home Runs for Club Members” campaign in addition to kicking off the Club’s annual Great Futures Start Here fundraising campaign.

Home Run for Members

Our student members are sporting new athletic gear thanks to the Club’s longstanding partnership with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, which provided Under Armor-branded T-shirts and backpacks, as well as yoga mats, to encourage students to live a healthy lifestyle.

Founded in 2001, the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation is a nonprofit organization that honors the legend and spirit of Cal Ripken, Sr. by maintaining the values Ripken embodied as a devoted coach and mentor: leadership, work ethic, personal responsibility and healthy living. The Foundation prepares at-risk youth for life’s challenges by teaching them critical life skills such as teamwork, communication, work ethic and respect.

In addition to the recent donation, the Foundation generously supports the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation STEM Center at the Bolch campus in Immokalee. Home to science, technology, engineering and math programs, the STEM Center teaches students how to think analytically and put their critical-thinking skills to the test.

Support from the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation also helped create our own Field of Dreams in the backyard of the Nichols Campus, where the multipurpose Baker Baseball Field has become a hub of physical activity and team-building activities.

After All…It’s Fore-The-Kids

Registration is open for the 18th Annual FORE-the-Kids Golf Tournament, which features championship golf, a cocktail party, live and silent auctions, awards ceremony, music and more.

FORE-the-Kids will be held Saturday, Nov. 6 at The Golf Club at Fiddler’s Creek, a 7,157-yard championship course that annually is named among Golfweek’s top 100 residential golf courses in America.

Player registration is $500 per golfer and includes 18 holes of world-class golf and a ticket to the outdoor after-party, which features an evening of scrumptious food, decadent desserts, an open bar and other festivities.

Non-golfers can purchase after-party tickets for $40 each. Additionally, sponsorship opportunities for individuals, businesses and philanthropic organizations start at $1,000 and can include golf fees, after-party tickets and multiple marketing opportunities.

Proceeds from FORE-the-Kids support the Boys & Girls Club’s six core program areas: education, career development, character and leadership, health and wellness, the arts, and sports and recreation.

Sharing a Success Story

The Boys & Girls Club’s mission is to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

Meet Jason Francoeur. He was a member of the Boys & Girls Club of Collier County for 10 years and was a two-time finalist for Youth of the Year. He graduated in 2017 from Lely High School and enrolled at Florida SouthWestern State College before earning a bachelor’s degree in communication from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2021.

Jason’s achievements to date certainly are worth celebrating, but he’s just getting started! Next up for Jason is moving to Washington, D.C., where he will complete a two-year campus ministry internship at Howard University through the Reformed University Fellowship. Then, he plans to enroll in the master of divinity degree program at Reformed Theological Seminary.

In July, the podcast “Between the Pew” featured Jason and his incredible story. Way to go, Jason!

Final Chance: Complete Our Survey

Our development team will soon be studying results of a 10-question survey measuring our performance and exploring the Boys & Girls Club’s mission. The survey explores our mission, donor recognition program, impact on youth and other areas. If you have not already completed the survey, please click below so we can record your responses.