History of Boys & Girls Clubs of Topeka

January 18, 1956 Boys Club of Topeka received its state charter. Serving on its inaugural Board of Directors were Governor Fred Hall, Alf Landon and Mayor George Schnellbacher. Membership fees for the 30-40 youth were covered by local businesspeople and educators.

 

August 2, 1957 Boys Club of Topeka was officially recognized by The Boys Clubs of America. Membership numbers continued to increase and soon meetings had to be moved to area community centers.

 

June 6, 1961 Boys Club of Topeka moved from its first location above a gas company to Washington Elementary School at 1021 SE Washington. The Club served almost 300 youth a year. With the additional space The Club was able to add a library, physical education program, woodworking shop, guidance department, food service & nutrition programs, as well as expand its community involvement.

 

By 1975 Boys Club of Topeka served over 500 youth each year and employed a staff of 20 people.

 

January 21, 1979 Boys Club of Topeka opened its first new facility at 510 SE 27th St. It took ten years of fundraising and the 26,000 square foot building cost $1.27 million dollars. At that time Boys Club of Topeka served over 600 youth and employed 30 staff members.

 

In 1993 Boys Club of Topeka became Boys & Girls Clubs of Topeka.

 

Today we have 14 Club locations serving all Shawnee County school districts and approximately 1,800 youth ages 5-18 each year.