Alumni Back At The Boys & Girls Club

In October, alumni of the Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham gathered at the Club for our first Alumni Night event. We saw an amazing turnout for this fun event which allowed alumni to reconnect with other former Club members. Based on the success of this first event we plan to have Alumni Night monthly.

In October, a Facebook group was created by Zubin Laliwala titled "Zubin’s Gym" in reference to the six years that Zubin worked as the Club’s athletic director. The response to this group was overwhelming, with more than 200 alumni registering within the first day. This group currently is made of 297 former Club members, and is growing daily. There is a strong bond between all these alumni, who regularly write in this group about their positive experiences at the Club and how much they loved coming as a child and as an adolescent.

From here, Zubin helped to organize the Club’s first Alumni Night event. The aim here was bringing former alumni who may not have been back to the Club in several years back for a chance to relive their Club experience and reconnect with the staff they grew up with and their friends from the Club.

One of the highlights of the night was all of the alumni gathering in the gym for an exciting game of bombardement, which is a variation of traditional dodgeball. Other highlights included standing ovations for current Club Director Donna DiVirgilio, former Director of Operations Rick "Flynny" Flynn and former Executive Director Patrick O’Donnell.

"The first Alumni Night couldn't have been more enjoyable. To see how all the children have grown up into fine young men and women was a great thrill," Zubin said. "Seeing all of the same smiling faces in the same happy warm place again was just so nostalgic and wholesome. I couldn't be prouder to be a Stoneham Boys and Girls Club member, volunteer, and alumni!"

All former and current staff agreed that it was very rewarding to see how the Club has impacted so many people in the community

Next week, the Club is hosting our second alumni event at the Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham on Nov. 15 between 7 and 9 p.m. Once again, this will be another fun night with gym games, food and fun. If you would like to learn more about the Club’s alumni group, please email us at info@bgcstoneham.org

Also, we are encouraging all alumni and those in the greater community to pre-register for Stoneham Ford’s 2013 Ford Fusion Event. For each person who pre-registers, Stoneham Ford will make a generous donation of $20 to benefit the Club. This event is right before the alumni event, and is a great opportunity for alumni to show their support for the Club. For more information, visit this website.