The POSITIVE Place For Kids!

The Boys & Girls Club of Central Pennsylvania was founded as a part-time venture in 1939 at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Harrisburg, initially serving 75 boys. In 1943, under the direction of Robert Clemments, the Club's first professional director, the Club began its full-time operation in a one-room building at its present site on Berryhill Street, serving 200 boys. The same year the Club acquired 3 1/2 acres of land adjacent to the original building.

In 1950, the Berryhill Street Club completed construction of a larger clubhouse to accommodate a membership of 650. By 1962, Club membership had swelled to over 1,000, necessitating enlarging the Berryhill facility. By 1968, membership had grown to over 1,300.

In order to meet the needs of an increasing membership, as well as providing services in another section of the city, the Club opened a second Clubhouse on Hanover Street in south Harrisburg in 1981. Known as the John N. Hall Clubhouse, this unit was significantly enlarged in 1994. In 1995, the Berryhill Street facility, now renamed the Angino Club House, began a long-term renovation program in order to meet the needs of the surrounding community and prepare for the challenges of the next century. A third unit was opened in 1997 in the Howard Day Homes. This unit, a joint effort of the Harrisburg Housing Authority and the B&GCH, is known as the Cumberland Road Clubhouse and currently serves over 200 children in this mid-town Harrisburg neighborhood.

In 2006, over 3,200 at-risk kids had a place to call their own…the Boys & Girls Club of Central Pennsylvania and its three neighborhood Clubhouses. We offer a drug-free, alcohol-free atmosphere with caring professionals. They provide not only a safe and positive place to be, but also offer programs geared to today's challenges through specific structured and guidance-oriented activities including:

• Socialization and team building through sports and recreation
• Vocational motivation through training and job placement
• Educational motivation through remedial studies and tutoring
• Individual and group guidance to address special needs and develop specific talents

We currently serve 1,264 members.

Become a Member of the Club!