Yvonne Lopez, Boys & Girls Club of Perth Amboy

               Yvonne Lopez, one of the original Founders most instrumental in establishing the Boys & Girls Clubs of Perth Amboy, received the Peter T. Maher New Jersey Boys & Girl Club Volunteer of the Year Award.  The Award was given at the Area Council’s Spring Meeting held in the Woodbridge Hilton, Woodbridge, NJ.   The award was created to recognize the most outstanding Boys & Girls Club Board volunteer in the state, someone who has made a significant impact on their local chapter and the Boys & Girls Club movement throughout New Jersey.

                        “Nearly three years ago, in response to the many smart, talented young people in Perth Amboy falling victim to the streets, Yvonne engaged local leaders and stakeholders in a collective discussion as to what “community-based mechanism” needs to be in place to get kids off the streets and on to a path towards their own success” states Alan Goldsmith, BGCPA co-founder.  “Within the first six months, Yvonne organized a board comprised of corporate, legal, education, and community leaders who together reached a shared commitment towards establishing a Boys & Girls Clubs affiliate in Perth Amboy”.                  

                          In June, 2007, thanks to Yvonne’s hard work, BGCPA secured full charter status form Boys & Girls Clubs of America.  Her many accomplishments include:

ü  Recruiting all 14 original Founding Board members.

ü  Raising over 50% of event-related sponsorship and overall patronage – in two years, Yvonne has raised nearly $30,000 in gross sponsorship income.

ü  Recruit and hire BGCPA’s first Chief Professional Officer.

ü  Recruited 23 individual donors to BGCPA who have provide close to $9,500 in unrestricted gifts. Yvonne also led the charge in navigating and galvanizing significant political, corporate, and community support for BGCPA.

Overall, under Yvonne’s leadership, BGCPA’s Board launched a targeted resource development that secured nearly $300,000 from a mix of

public, private, individual, and event dollars.  The dollars raised enabled BGCPA to establish: 

ü  “McGinnis Club” and “Shull Club”, situated within the William C. McGinnis School and the Samuel E. Shull School (the two public middle schools in Perth Amboy), who together serve 434 high-risk youth, ages 9-14, over the school year; and 

ü  BGCPA’s “Sports and Technology Enrichment Camp” that provides 100 youth, ages 6-14, a daily menu of educational and recreational programming. 

               “Yvonne’s leadership has been instrumental in the success of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Perth Amboy and, increasingly, of the Area Council overall,”  says Boys & Girls Clubs in New Jersey’s State Director, Connie Ludwin.  “We are grateful for her participation and commitment to all children in New Jersey.”

                        Yvonne has been increasingly involved with the State Alliance’s Resource Development Committee. Additionally, in her prior role as Regional Vice President for Community Relations for Wachovia Bank, she worked closely with the State Alliance to form a strategic philanthropic partnership between the bank and BGCNJ that yielded grant dollars for the Alliance, significant sponsorship support, and additional benefits, added Ludwin. 

                        “Yvonne has maximized her expertise in banking, marketing, and corporate grantmaking to the benefit of BGC at the local and statewide level”, states Jorge Cruz, BGCPA’s Chief Professional Officer.  “She has demonstrated incredible value to the BGC movement, and exemplifies the sort of leadership that all BGC affiliates should have access of”.