Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford Expands Into Baltimore

Aberdeen, Maryland, April 2, 2009-

Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County is pleased to announce that as of April 1, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore, Incorporated is officially its own entity. Three years ago the Harford County Boys & Girls Clubs Board of Directors was asked by the National Boys & Girls Clubs in Atlanta, to use their skills to help restart Boys & Girls Clubs in Baltimore.

With Senator Barbara Mikulski as the driving force, the National organization was able to provide start-up funding to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County to facilitate this process. In September 2007, the organization hired Ken Darden, an experienced Boys & Girls Clubs executive, as Executive Director of Harford County. Darden was also charged with leading the expansion into Baltimore. In the short time since then, Mr. Darden was able to open four Clubs, currently serving 800 children in Baltimore City. It became apparent that the need for the Clubs in Baltimore required the full-time efforts of an Executive Director. At that time Mr. Darden agreed to take on that role along with assembling a volunteer Board of Directors consisting of community and business leaders throughout the city. Anthony Pollard, an executive with General Electric, assumed the role of President of the Board of Directors.

“The Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County is excited about the success of our outreach to Baltimore,” says Terry Sexton, President of the Harford County organization. “We would like to thank the efforts of the National Boys & Girls Clubs, Senator Mikulski and her staff, and the leadership of the volunteer Board in Baltimore who have stepped forward to fulfill our mission of serving youth. We are proud to have been part of this process and wish them the best as they grow to meet the demands of serving the youth in Baltimore.”

Boys & Girls Clubs offer character and leadership development opportunities through after school educational and recreational programs provided in safe, supervised settings. Their research-based, high quality programs focus on character and leadership development, education and career development, health and life skills, the arts, sports, fitness and recreation.