Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club - Champaign-Urbana

Location

201 E. Park Street
PO Box 1396
Champaign, IL 61824-1396

Contact

217- 355- 5437

Website

The Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1968 and became a member of Boys Clubs of America in October of that year. In May of 1969, the Club purchased and moved into an old church building at 201 East Park, Champaign. A 1.45 million dollar renovation took place in 1994. The old structure was converted into a gymnasium, and an 11,000 square foot addition was built on the east side of the old building.

The first contact with Boys Clubs of America resulted from the election of Clarence Thompson as a national associate board member in 1967. Gene Sullivan, who was then regional director of Boys Clubs of America, worked with Thompson to organize a local development and steering committee. Most of the members of that committee became the first Board of Directors. They included Thompson, Don Moyer, Sr., Harold Dawson, Joseph Smith, Bill Evans, Cleveland Hammonds, Carl Greenstein, M.D., David Baum, Ken Stratton, Tom Drish, Paul Davis, Paul Kent, Walter Jackson, Virgil Wykoff, and Claudine Stovall.

Bill Evans served as the first president of the Board, and Joseph Smith was appointed the first personnel committee chairman. Smith and a few of his committee members visited the Boys Clubs of America national convention in Chicago and selected several Club directors for interviews. Dave Lawrence was chosen as the first executive director, and he served from 1968 to 1978. Five other persons have held that position: Jim Forrest (1978 -1989); Tim Sheehan (1989 -1995); Fred Paulke (1995 - 1997); Elisabeth Barnett (1997 - 2001) and Andre Arrington (2001 – present).

The Club assisted in opening new clubs in Danville (1989) and in Bloomington-Normal (1992). Those operations have now become separate organizations. After being approached by some concerned Mahomet citizens, the Club opened a Mahomet satellite facility in September of 1994 known as Mahomet Area Boys & Girls Club.

The Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club, a United Way affiliated agency and is a member in good standing of The Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

The Club serves members at its original location at 201 East Park Street in Champaign.

The Club’s executive director oversees a staff of trained program directors, program assistants and volunteers who administer and supervise all activities. A voluntary Board of Directors composed of local business, social and educational leaders provides policy-making and direction for the Club.

This organization participated in a UIUC study on community technology use. For more on that see Study of UC2B Anchor Institutions' Technology Use