Since 2001, the Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster has worked in youth development with young people ages 8-18, from many economic, social and family circumstances. In August 2008, the organization consolidated its separate Fitchburg and Leominster clubhouses to a single location on the Fitchburg-Leominster line and received its charter from the Boys & Girls Club of America that December.

It is situated in a former private school on conservation land in a residential setting—a unique site for a Boys & Girls Club clubhouse. In addition to the 8 acres owned by the Club, the Doyle Conservation Center (operated by the Trustees of the Reservations) provides more than 160 additional acres on which to play and study. The facility itself is well equipped with numerous classrooms, meeting places, a full gymnasium, and a full Teen Center.

In the fall of 2015, we started the Boys & Girls Club of Gardner, a pilot program currently serving 20 children in an afterschool program housed at Gardner High School. For more information about the Gardner Clubhouse, visit our webpage.

Afterschool experts have long recognized that learning doesn’t stop at 3PM. We agree that the hours after school are an opportunity to keep children and young adults, to inspire them to learn and to help them get the skills they need to succeed academically, socially, and professionally.

The after school program at the Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster is doing just that.

Our after school program is different from other after school programs. Our focus is on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM), while also offering programming in health, nutrition, community service, entrepreneurship, and of course, recreation and sports. The Club provides youth an extra opportunity to practice and reinforce the skills and concepts they learn in school.

We offer daily access to a broad range of programs in five Core Program Areas: Health and Life Skills, The Arts, Education & Career Development, Sports, Fitness & Recreation, and Character & Leadership Development.

In addition, the philosophy underlying our youth development programs seeks to instill in young people a sense of:

Competence – The feeling that there is something they can do well.
Usefulness – That life is an opportunity to do something of value for other people.
Belonging – A clubhouse environment where every individual knows he or she belongs and is accepted.
Power and Influence – The self-esteem to speak up and be heard.

Funded in part by the cities of Leominster & Fitchburg’s CDBG Programs

Approximately five percent (5%) of the Club’s annual budget is generated from programs or other fees. Our volunteer board accomplishes much of our fund-raising with the assistance of a part-time staff.

Roughly ninety-five percent (95%) of the $900,000+ budget comes from individual donations and our Annual Campaign, which meets the balance of our budgetary needs through personal gifts, grant awards, and event-driven fund-raising efforts.

The BGC of Fitchburg and Leominster is an IRS certified 501(c) (3) corporation with a non-profit tax I.D. number of 04-3576700. While the Club is not a budgeted agency of the local United Way, we are eligible to receive designated gifts via payroll deduction to the United Way of North Central Massachusetts, the state COMECC program, or any other United Way in the country. Our United Way number for designated gifts is 937789.

The Club is an autonomous member of the 4,000-strong Boys & Girls Club of America and is governed by its own Board of Directors. The Club is not part of any local, state, or federal government agency, or any religious organization.