Boys & Girls Club of Troy Honored by Michigan/Ohio Area Council

March 30, 2015

Two awards were presented to the Boys & Girls Club of Troy at the 2015 Michigan/Ohio Area Council Meeting & Youth of the Year Conference on Friday, March 27 in Perrysburg, Ohio. Award winners in several categories were selected from nominations by Boys & Girls Clubs from both neighboring states.

Mark Leonard (pictured right) was named Outstanding Board Volunteer for Michigan, while the Club’s new Medallion Club initiative received the Michigan Outstanding Program award.

Leonard, who is the Vice President of Finance for Beaumont Health System, has served for eight years on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club of Troy, acting as Board Treasurer while also serving on the Club’s Executive Committee and as Chair of the Finance Committee.

Leonard is an important fundraiser both personally through the Club’s annual “One Campaign,” and through Beaumont which has sponsored many Club benefits such as the Rochester Hills Youth Government Council 5k Race, the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 grand opening and the annual Taste of Troy fundraiser. He also coordinated the donation of the Boys & Girls Club of Troy’s AED equipment and staff training.

Leonard provides invaluable counsel regarding the Club’s budget, which with his guidance remains balanced and well organized year after year.

The Medallion Club was introduced for the 2014-15 school year and is designed to reward members who attend the Club regularly to participate in after-school programs and activities. The Medallion Club has four levels – Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze – each determined by particular thresholds which members can reach based on their Club attendance each month. Incentives increase with each level and include field trips, pizza parties, ice cream, and tickets for a raffle which will take place at the end of the school year.

An average of 73 members per month (about 70% of the Club’s average daily attendance) reached at least the Bronze level of the Medallion Club since its inception in September.

The Medallion Club is designed as a derivative of the Great Futures: More Members, More Often initiative, one of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s key strategies for increasing its impact on youth. In recognition of BGCA’s research which indicates that the amount of time youth spend at Club is a determining factor in the depth of impact the Club experience has on young lives, creating incentives for attendance was deemed an effective way to ensure that members were at the facility more often and thus able to participate in other regular programs such as Power Hour, Triple Play, Passport to Manhood and SMART Girls.

The Boys & Girls Club of Troy, at 3670 John R Road, is a non-profit youth development organization that provides educational and recreational activities, in addition to mentoring programs, to more than 1,200 children, ages 6 to 18, in the tri-county area of metropolitan Detroit. For nearly four decades, the Club's positive environment has enabled members to become responsible, self-reliant, and caring adults.

Share by: