Major donation given to Boys & Girls Clubs

A major donation by Boys & Girls Clubs supporter John Scardino has given the Conejo and Las Virgenes groups the means to begin recruitment of a new resource development director. Scardino donated $100,000 to help fund the staff position.

The director will be charged with raising up to $10 million to help the clubs build four new facilities to provide before and after-school care for local children.

"To properly fund this development program and add a director to guide it, we need $300,000," said Dianne McKay, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Conejo and Las Virgenes. "Because of the gracious donation by John Scardino, we are off to a spectacular start and have already begun the recruitment process."

Scardino, an attorney, grew up in Venice, Calif. "When I was 12 years old, I went to the Santa Monica club, and it literally saved my life by pointing me in the right direction," he said. "Now I have a chance to help repay the Boys & Girls Clubs, which had such a positive influence on me as I was growing up."

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Conejo and Las Virgenes provides programs for youth in Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Oak Park, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park.

For more information, call (818) 880-8577 or visit www.bgconejo.org.