Traditionally your organization has pulled in big-name celebrities who started out at the Boys & Girls Clubs. How important is that to have those individuals show their support?
Boys & Girls Clubs is all about taking someone, letting them have the confidence they need to know their potential and then owning that power to go out and be successful adults. So, as people achieve things — celebrities like Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lopez, the list goes on — the fact that they can talk [about] their humble beginnings and what they learned and what they were able to accomplish by the foundation that they [received] at the Boys & Girls Clubs, it’s invaluable. It also helps them communicate to kids who are in the clubs now [about] what they can do and what’s possible.
