Boys & Girls Club of Fullerton’s Entrance in Community Center. Photo by Emerson Little.

Brett Ackerman, CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Fullerton, in his office. Photo by Emerson Little.

The Boys & Girls Club of Fullerton has been around since 1952 and is still keeping the community engaged today. I recently had a chance to interview Brett Ackerman, Chief Executive Officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Fullerton, about the history of their organization, how the non-profit serves the needs of youth in the community, and how their annual fall fundraiser helps support the programs they offer.

On one of the sweltering days in early September, I walked down the air-conditioned hallway of the Fullerton Community Center and found the entrance to the Main Branch of the Boys & Girls Club of Fullerton. There, I met a cleaning crew of Buena Park High School students, who report in two times a week for community service hours. One helpful volunteer let Brett Ackerman know I had arrived. Ackerman stepped out of the administrative area and provided a brief tour of the club, showing me each space the organization offers for children and teenagers as part of their before- and after-school programs.  

We walked from the Games Room in the common area, where the pool and foosball tables are located, to their Arts & Crafts Makerspace, to the kitchenette, where anyone (aged 18 & under) can come to receive snacks during the school year (including snacks & lunch in the summer). We then went to the S.T.E.A.M. Room, a place where anything related to science, technology, engineering, art, music, and math happens. Lastly, we stopped at a room designed specifically for kindergartners and younger children. All the spaces generally begin with what Ackerman referred to as “Power Hour,” which is the homework program everyone is required to do. He explained all of this before sitting down for an interview in his office. 

“As an employee of the club, I have been here over 11 years, and prior to that, I was on the Board of Directors,” said Ackerman.  

While working for Wells Fargo, Ackerman was looking for a way to get involved with the community, and since he had gone to the Boys & Girls Club when he was younger, he decided to help out with something he used to be a part of, so he joined the organization’s Board of Directors in his early-thirties. 

He said, “My favorite memory coming here as a kid was playing Carrom. It was basically a small tabletop, probably half the size of my desk, with four pockets in the corners and little plastic chips. It was very small and basically a rudimentary pool game that was hours of fun.”

Fullerton’s Boys & Girls Club was founded in 1952 by a group of concerned citizens, according to Ackerman, but was not officially chartered with the national organization until 1954. Their original building was erected right next to St. Mary’s Church. It was in operation until 2013, when the city’s community center was approved for redevelopment funds. The space their original building once occupied is now a parking lot.   

“Historically, there was a senior center that was kind of over where the (present-day community center) gymnasium is now. Our club was next to St. Mary’s, and then everything behind us was the parking lot,” said Ackerman. “We had our own pool, our own gym, our own building. We owned the building, but we didn’t own the land. So, our land lease ran out in probably 2000. I think they had a 50-year land lease…The city really hadn’t done anything with it, and then once the redevelopment happened, that’s when the negotiations started again. So, we basically negotiated to tear down our old building and come into this building, which we had to pay for. We were on the hook for about $700,000 for the project, which still blows my mind. There are a few things that have changed. We went from one dollar a year in the old building to now, where we pay rent on a monthly basis. It costs about $6,000 a month in expenses, which is a big jump when you’re running a non-profit…We’re doing a service to the city; that’s the hardest part for me to swallow. We’re trying to help the kids in the community, but yet, we’re still having to lay out a bunch of cash to do so.”

The Boys & Girls Club serves children and young adults from kindergarten to high school. They have three pillars of focus: academic success, character and leadership, and a healthy lifestyle. Prior to COVID, their enrollment numbers were far greater. They were driving about one hundred kids to school every day. They would pick up the students from about 15 different schools in Fullerton and bring the children to the community center every day after school. Now, in the mornings, Ackerman says that they are taking probably about 20-30 kids. But he emphasized that the service they provide is two-fold: it’s help for the kids, and it’s help for the parents. So, he considers it “a kind of a holistic family approach.”        

“We’ll take them to any school in the district, and we will drop them off at that school,” said Ackerman. “So, we have parents who drop their kids off here at the community center at 6:30 in the morning. We get them to school. When the bells ring, and they get out, they come here, and they can be here from 2:00 to 6:30 in the evening. I mean, there was a recent study at Valencia Park about safe passage and routes to school, and a lot of the kids at Valencia Park don’t feel safe walking to school. So, we’re in the middle of meeting with a bunch of different community-based organizations to figure out how we can help with that. If kids don’t feel comfortable walking from their school to a park, that’s something that we as a city need to address, in my opinion.”

Ackerman said, “We wouldn’t be able to do what we do in Fullerton without the general public supporting us and the kids we serve. We don’t turn any kid away at the club. It is a blessing to see that this organization has been here for over 70 years serving the youth.” 

On Saturday, October 5, the Boys and Girls Club of Fullerton will be hosting its 49th Annual Auction at 5 pm inside the Fullerton Community Center, located at 340 W. Commonwealth Ave. The club holds two large fundraisers per year: an August golf tournament and an October auction gala, their biggest annual fundraiser. Ackerman explained that they start the event with a silent auction and cocktail hour out in the courtyard, and then guests come into their grand hall for dinner and a live auction. This fall, the auction’s theme is “A Magical Night of Giving,” and their special guest is world-renowned magician John Gabriel, who has performed at the Magic Castle. All proceeds from the event supplement kids in the community and help support the non-profit’s youth programs. 

The Main Branch of the Boys & Girls Club of Fullerton is open from 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, they’re open from 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm. For further information about the club’s Oct. 5th fundraiser, call (714) 871-1391, extension 2001 (Brett Ackerman) or extension 2005 (Emily Nolan).