Thirty years ago, a friend of Lee DeLieto Sr. invited him to a Christmas party thrown by the local Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County. DeLieto, a commercial realtor with Michael Saunders & Company, had always believed in giving back and had even once considered entering a seminary to become a priest. Meeting Boys & Girls Club kids at that party made him realize that this was where he could make his biggest mark.

“They threw open the doors and in walks Santa, and it was uproarious,” DeLieto says. “I just fell in love. That hooked me.”

Soon after, DeLieto, now 82, joined the organization’s board, and has been a constant presence at the clubs during an era of extraordinary growth and transformation. DeLieto remembers the club he visited as little more than a “rundown” building. “I mean, it was a shack,” he says. Three decades later, the Lee Wetherington Boys & Girls Club, the organization’s flagship location, is a buzzing hive of activity, with several programs for kids between the ages of 6 and 18. In one classroom, children get help with homework from teachers and specialists, while in others, they work on fun art projects, improve their computer skills, play games, have fun and make friends. Programs for teens encourage civic engagement, get them involved with volunteer projects and nonprofits, and help them develop career skills by earning workplace certifications. Some opportunities even lead to paid jobs, like preparing and serving food for their peers.

Other facilities in places like Newtown (which is home to two clubs), Venice and North Port offer similar opportunities. The organization’s most recent mission has been to bring its services to Arcadia, something DeLieto championed during his tenure as board chair-elect and chair from 2017 to 2021. Arcadia is located in DeSoto County, which has one of the lowest literacy rates in the state—one study found that 42 percent of people in the county possess only basic literacy skills. (In Florida as a whole, that rate is 24 percent. In Sarasota County, it’s 14.) The arrest rate for kids ages 10-17 in DeSoto County, meanwhile, is nearly three times higher than Sarasota’s.

DeLieto says that before the Boys & Girls Clubs’ expansion into Arcadia, there was little opportunity for young people there. Recognizing the need and aware of the impact that clubs can have, local leaders in Arcadia “invited us” into the commmunity, says DeLieto. In 2018, the organization opened what is now the Louis and Gloria Flanzer Club in Arcadia and officially changed its name to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties. Five years later, it completed a 10,000-square-foot expansion and overhaul of the space, helping the club reach 200 members, more than double the number of kids it was previously serving.

“It’s almost a miracle,” says DeLieto. “It’s multi-generational—it benefits the family, particularly with the skills training. Not everyone is going to go to college, but they can have a trade and make a substantial income. We’re teaching woodworking, plumbing, electrical. That’s crucial, because many of those families need as much income as they can bring home.”

In addition to his work with the Boys & Girls Clubs, DeLieto has supported the University Club, the senior living facility Plymouth Harbor, the Red Cross, Kiwanis and the MSC Foundation, Michael Saunders’ corporate philanthropy arm.

DeLieto says he grew up in a Catholic household that emphasized helping others and credits his mother for teaching him one very valuable lesson. “From her, I learned that giving is a thing you want to do,” he says. “Charity really is giving something to someone and not expecting anything in return.”

Still, DeLieto acknowledges that he does get something in return when he visits clubs, sees smiling faces and talks with kids who are learning, growing and having fun. “When you walk in these doors, that’s a major return for me,” he says.