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CLUB HISTORY
Painting created by: Judy Perry
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In August of 1999 Dan Fahy was the representative of the Arizona Community Foundation and received a call from a donor that wanted to do something to make a difference for the children of Bisbee. The decision was made to affiliate with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The first steps were to gain public support, find a location, establish a board and set aside the money to fund the Club.
After some calculations about the number of children in Bisbee and finding out the national average for funding in a Club, an initial gift was determined. That gift was 1.5 million dollars. Additional gifts would be made to purchase and rehab the building. The fund was set up in trust with the Arizona Community Foundation for the expressed purpose of developing and sustaining a Club for Bisbee.
The first meeting convened by the Arizona Community Foundation was to a group of influential citizens and the press to announce the gift and outline the concept of a Boys & Girls Club of Bisbee. The foundation sponsored
a luncheon at Cafe' Roka on December 16,1999. The first public information meeting we held on December on December 29,1999 at Trinity Methodist Church of Warren to present the idea to the community at large. From these meetings and others merged the Steering Committee. From this group it was decided that the incorporators of the boys & Girls Club of Bisbee, Inc. would be Dan Fahy as President; Sam Sorich as Vice-President, Susan Rohrbach as Treasure and Dennis Nelson as Secretary. Other members of the committee were: Maureen Kappler, Roberto Vasquez, Katina Redman and Terri Arreola.
The Club was incorporated in April of 2000 and it received its 501c3 status in July of the same year.
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During the years 2000, the Steering Committee and the Incorporators met and recruited a board of directors that would assume the responsibilities of fundraising, stewardship and governance for the organization. After canvassing the community and finding people willing to take on the task, a board was nominated, selected and empowered in the fall of 2000. The corporate officers then transferred authority for governance to the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Bisbee, Inc. The board then elected Tom Weiskopf- President, Bob Butler- Vice-President, Joe Delgado-Treasure and Terry Reyna-Secretary to lead them through the first two years of fundraising, finding an Executive Director, rehabilitating the former Phelps Dodge Mercantile in Warren as the clubhouse and opening of the Club.
Katina Lugo was hired in November 2001 as the first Executive Director and oversaw the opening and staffing of the Club. The club held an open house at the end of April 2002 and it's first official day serving the youth was May 6, 2002.
The Club is now 17 years old and continues to strive serving over 600 youth annually. Being one of two Boys & Girls Clubs in Cochise County along the International Border with Mexico.
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