Menifee Boys & Girls Club Celebrates 5th Birthday

Sam Handley, unit director of the Boys & Girls Club of Menifee Valley, speaks to club members at Friday's event.

Story and photos by Tommie Brown

The U.S Census Bureau has found that nearly 50 percent of all non-profit organizations fail within the first five years of existence. In 2020, it is projected that the percentage of failures will raise even above that.

Which is why the Boys & Girls Club of Menifee Valley's celebration of their fifth birthday on Friday is no party that should be taken lightly.

Often mistakenly considered to be federally and/or state -funded, the Boys & Girls Club is completely non-profit based, relying solely on donations and grants to supply services to local youth.

 Those services go far beyond those of the average first-year, non-profit start-up. 

The club currently offers year-round sports leagues, dance and tumbling, music lessons including drums, guitar, vocal, flute, piano and ukulele, self-defense classes including taekwondo and American Kenpo, STEM classes, theater classes, Spanish classes, tutoring and painting classes.

The club has also added adult classes for parents and children to participate in together, such as painting classes, American Kenpo, and Hit Fit classes.

But arguably most importantly, the club provides financial assistance on all programs. That means the club will supplement the fees up to 70 percent, based on HUD requirements. That totals somewhere close to $100,000 of assistance provided to children each year.

Starting off with only 127 children in total, and roughly 44 children in attendance per day, five years later the club has served over 5,000 children and cares for an average of 404 children daily.

Entirely under its non-profit title, the club also provides both snacks and dinner to children, as well as transportation to students since 2014. It leaves its doors open for all-day summer care with fun summer activities for all children, kicking off this week.

This has given parents and guardians the security of knowing their child is safe, productive, fed, and socializing while they fulfill their own obligations at work or school.



The children and staff  celebrated their five-year success with a Happy Birthday Boys and Girls Club party of their own. Huddled around birthday cakes, the children sang in their best voices “Happy Birthday” to their facility. Staff also got together a “candy store” for the kids, including a candy station and chocolate fondue fountain.

According to statistics and opinions of experts, the Boys & Girls Club of Menifee Valley was not expected to succeed in the vast way they have. The club was under the radar altogether and expected by some to collapse.

“I’ve been a part of the Boys & Girls Club since 1984,” says Sam Handley, the club's unit director and lovingly referred to as "Mr. Sam" by the children. "I’ve seen a lot of Boys & Girls Clubs fail within the first four or five years. It is because Mr. John (Executive Director John Whann) has brought in so many diverse programs that these kids want to come, and this is succeeding.”

During the month of June, the club’s birthday month, it is celebrating with the “$5 for 5 Fundraising Event.”

With hopes of reaching $5,000 within the month, club officials are asking for $5 donations from everyone and anyone willing and eager to lend a helping hand in the continuing growth of the youth center.

“This could not have been accomplished without the assistance of a dedicated Board of Directors, the Menifee School District supporting staff and School Board, the local and surrounding business community, our wonderful families and children in Menifee and the surrounding areas and a dedicated team of staff that truly care for children and place the children first,” says Whann. “And this [$5,000 fundraiser] is a very lofty goal, but what is lost in everything we do is the return in investment. Every dollar is invested in the club.”

To donate, visit the Boys & Girls Club of Menifee’s Facebook page or send in checks to P.O. Box 2423, Menifee, CA 92584. For more information about donating, you can also contact Julia Burch at 951-246-8845.