Boys & Girls Clubs of America and its Florida Area Council presented the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County board of directors with the 2019 Board Team of the Year award at the annual Florida Area Council conference last week. The award recognizes the Board’s commitment to excellence and outstanding performance in marketing, planning, resource development and outreach.

The board of directors include Jonna Keller, chair; Lee DeLieto, chair-elect; Ric Saba, secretary; Meghan O. Serrano, treasurer; Jaime DiDomenico, past chair; Hank Battie; Michael Beaumier; Fatima Demlak; Ernest Dubose II; Ken Freeman; David Glorius; Dr. Robert Gussin; Wayne Hall; Eric Kaplan; Karen Madden; Carolyn Mason; Gene Matthews; Nancy Mina; Mark Morrison; Michael Moulton; Nora Patterson; Richard Perlman; Dr. Richard Rehmeyer; Robert Scheb; Tom Shapiro; Ric Smalley; Lee Thacker; and Lee Wetherington.

Over the past year, the board has spearheaded a variety of strategic initiatives that have resulted in greater programmatic and developmental opportunities for thousands of area youth. Key accomplishments include opening the Louis and Gloria Flanzer Boys & Girls Club in Arcadia, which is the agency’s sixth club location and first site beyond Sarasota County lines; strengthening the organization’s safety and security efforts by hardening the entrances of four Club locations; expanding existing and building new partnerships with local organizations to provide youth with critical resources that further enhance their development; earning a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator; and launching capital projects and programmatic endeavors to support the organization’s accelerated growth.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County was also presented with the 2019 Core Program award in Character and Leadership Development for its transformative Teen Program, which provides middle and high school students with leadership, service, entrepreneurial, vocational and college and career prep opportunities. Notable services that under the Teen Program umbrella include Students Taking Active Roles (STAR) leadership training, SRQVolunteen, Perlman Price Young Entrepreneurs and the Tom and Debbie Shapiro Career Resource Center.