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About Us

Our mission at Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo is to enhance the quality of life of young people through education, art, health, and recreation, especially for those who need us most.

Two children play Twister on a mat with colored circles, supervised by a staff member in a blue T-shirt and jeans.

Our Impact

For over 70 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo has been providing youth with life-enhancing, meaningful, and purposeful programming to aid in their professional, personal, and educational development. 

View Our Annual Report

Our Team

Staff

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Ashania
 Atlas

Unit
Manager

AshaniaA@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Ginger
 Belew

Administrative
Assistant

GingerB@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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TJ
 Buchanan

Teen Services
Coordinator

TjB@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Marlin
 Evans

Program & Social Media
Coordinator

MarlinE@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Matt
 Forkin

Chief Executive
Officer

MattF@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Alyssa
 Hartsig

Director of
Quality

AlyssaH@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Jonathan
 James

Director of
Resource Development

JonathanJ@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Libby
 Mills

Unit
Manager

LibbyM@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Carmen
 Pitcock

Director of
Operations

CarmenP@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Kelsey
 Pearson

Director of
Programming

KelseyP@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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James
 Varnsdeel

Program & Workforce
Coordinator

JamesV@bgckalamazoo.org

Email
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Bridgett
 Williams

Finance
Manager

BridgettW@bgckalamazoo.org

Email

Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Melissa Burton, Gull Lake View Golf Resort
Board Chair

Alesha Burnash, Herbert Machnik Law Firm
Past Board Chair

Josh Howells – Brink, Key & Chludzinski
Treasurer

Heather Ezelle, FedEx Corporation
Vice Board Chair

Nicole Chatman-Barrow, PNC Financial Services
Secretary

Jeff DeNooyer, DeNooyer Ford
Member at Large

Directors

Chief David Boysen, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety

Cheryl A. Dickson, MD, WMU – School of Medicine

Steve Hessen, Kreis Enderle

Bobby Boyd, City of Kalamazoo Economic Development Supervisor

James B. Kaiser, Group Marketing Services, Inc.

Tim Martin, Old National Bank

Mark Wilkinson, Paladin Employment Law

Our History

Learn about how we came to be.

The First Club
In Hartford, Connecticut - Mary Goodwin, Alice Goodwin, Elizabeth Hammersley and Louisa Bushnell believed that boys who roamed the streets should have a positive alternative and they organized the first Boys Club.
Boys Clubs Affiliate
The Federated Boys Clubs in Boston was formed with 53 member organizations – this marked the start of a nationwide Movement and our national organization.
Boys Clubs Comes to Kalamazoo
The Boys Club of Kalamazoo was incorporated and became chartered with the Boys Clubs of America.
Our First Home
The Kalamazoo Boys Club developed a partnership with Kalamazoo Public Schools to build an addition to Edison School. Construction on the new site was completed at 915 Lake Street.
A Club for Everyone
Kalamazoo Boys Club became the first Club in Michigan to change its name to the Boys & Girls Club and allow membership to girls.
A Name Change
To recognize the fact that girls are a part of our cause, the national organization's name was changed to Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1990. Accordingly, Congress amended and renewed our charter.
A New Chapter
The Lake Street Unit officially closed and the building was demolished to make way for the new Edison School. We kicked off our Capital Campaign to raise $9M to build a new building on the corner of Vine St. & Portage St.
Building a Greater Future
We celebrated our groundbreaking for our new building at 823 Portage Street!
1860
1906
1953
1969
1989
1990
2021
2023

Our Policies

Below are some of our policies and procedures. Use the drop down arrows to check our policies in each category. Click on individual policies to view a PDF copy of the policy.

Ready for a support system you can count on?

Membership is free and available to all youth in grades K-12th. Membership is required for any youth who wants to enter the Club or participate in programming.

Enroll a Member