Our Legacy

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry originated in the mid 1980’s when a group of concerned Beaufort County citizens recognized a lack of positive, structured activities to fill the leisure hours of young people in the community. The group conducted extensive research into youth development programs, and ultimately asked the Boys Clubs of America (now Boys & Girls Clubs of America) to help establish a new youth service organization in the Beaufort community.

The group received an operating charter from Boys Clubs of America in August of 1986. They leased a city-owned facility for $1 per year and began offering programs.  Within the first several days of opening, more than twice the expected number of children appeared at the club.  The Board of Directors held an emergency meeting to determine how to meet the needs of the community’s children.  Ultimately, the decision was made to open a second site at Beaufort Elementary School for children 12 and under, and let the original site serve the area’s teenage members.

In 1990, the Boys and Girls of the Lowcountry partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Human Services Division to request and receive a grant to establish a club in the Sandalwood Terrace public housing complex on Hilton Head Island.

In the fall of 1992, the Hilton Head Club expanded. The Beaufort Housing Authority gave additional space in the form of a complete apartment to be used as a learning center.  With assistance from the Zonta Club of Hilton Head, the apartment was renovated, immediately put to use and quickly outgrown due to the increasing number of members.  By the mid 1990’s, membership at the Sandalwood Terrace location reached its capacity of nearly 300.

In early 1993, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and The Department of Housing and Urban Development collaborated to obtain a Kellogg Foundation grant to provide youth programming in a rural setting.  In May of 1993, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry opened its third unit in a public housing complex in Yemassee.  Located on the northern border of Beaufort County near Hampton County, the Yemassee Club grew within a few short months to a membership of more than 125 boys and girls and it continues to serve approximately that number of children in northern Beaufort County.

In September of 1993, the Beaufort unit of Boys & Girls Clubs broke ground for a long awaited 25,000 square foot youth facility.  A major benefactor, whose initial gift allowed for the start-up of the Beaufort Club, made additional gifts, which served as challenge grants to the community.  This resulted in an endowment that currently stands at just over $1.5 million.  These funds were pledged as collateral to begin construction on the much-needed new facility.

Soon after construction began on the new Beaufort facility, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry launched a capital campaign that brought in cash and pledges sufficient to retire the debt on the $1.5 million facility by late 1997.

The new Beaufort facility opened its doors to more than 500 children in June of 1994.  During that first summer, daily attendance averaged 400-500 children, and membership currently stands at nearly 900 children.

With the help of a three-year commitment from a major benefactor and the strong cooperation of school administration, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry began a program to operate during the after-school hours at Lady’s Island Middle School in northern Beaufort County in September of 1995.  In the fall of 1998, the program relocated to the new Coosa Elementary School on Lady’s Island, where it serves more than 150 children.

The Beaufort Area Board continues actively examine the need for Boys & Girls Club programs in other parts of our service area.  With financial assistance through Boys & Girls Clubs of America, a new after-school club opened at Estill Middle School in Hampton County in October 1997, with an enrollment of nearly 200 children after the third day of operation.  In the summer of 2001, again with assistance from the national organization as well as from the Department of Social Services another new club opened at Ridgeland Elementary School in Jasper County.

In the fall of 1997, a grass-roots group in Bluffton headed by local businessman Bill Slaughter formed the Bluffton Steering Committee to gauge the feasibility of a Boys & Girls Club program at the Michael C. Riley Elementary School.  With approval from the Hilton Head Area Board of the Boys & Girls Club, the Bluffton group began what became a very successful fundraising effort resulting in the opening of a new Bluffton Club in June of 1998.  In June of 1999, the Bluffton Club moved to mobile classrooms near the M.C. Riley School. 

Since its opening, the lack of space and hard to access location of the Hilton Head Club has seriously impeded growth.  In late 1995 following nearly a year of work, a board-appointed Facilities Committee identified a parcel of land within walking distance of the public school campus, on the north end of Hilton Head, as an ideal setting for a new Boys & Girls Club.  The property was purchased with the assistance of the VanLandingham Rotary Club and an excellent financing package from NationsBank.

In May of 1996, under the leadership of Board member and tennis great Stan Smith, a Capital Campaign was begun to secure the funds necessary to construct, equip and endow the new 28,000 square foot facility to serve Hilton Head area children.  The Board broke ground in October 1997 with more than $5.8 million pledged to the campaign.  After weather-related delays, construction began in the spring of 1998.  Thanks to the generosity of the broadest cross-section of area residents, including former J.C. Penney Company Chairman and CEO William M. Batten and his wife, Kathryn, for whom the new facility is named, the Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head dedicated its new Batten Family Boys & Girls Club on September 30, 1999.  Membership increases daily along with the scope of programs offered in the new facility.  The dawning of the new century brought a much more diverse membership of more than 620 children, with a daily attendance regularly reaching 350, a number that continues to grow.

In late 2002, discussions began with school officials and parents about the need for a Boys & Girls Club in Colleton County.  Securing monies from Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry launched a summer program in 2003 at Northside Elementary School.

In 2003, the Bluffton Board of Directors launched a Capital Campaign to fund a 20,000 square foot building in Bluffton that can accommodate our 200 members and the over 400 children on the waiting list. The Beaufort Board of Directors also launched a Capital Campaign to fund a new teen center on Harrington Street in Beaufort, the new Russ Epker Boys & Girls Club at the Agnes Major Center in Sheldon and much need renovations and equipment for the Beaufort Area Clubs.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry is among the fastest growing organizations in the Southeast, which itself is the fastest growing region of the national organization.  Outstanding professional and volunteer leadership has brought acclaim to the Lowcountry organization, which has been singled out repeatedly for state, regional and national recognition.  Several Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry staff serve the national organization as field consultants to other Clubs.

The growth and success of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry presents interesting challenges to staff and volunteers as we meet the needs of our growing communities while continuing to offer quality youth development programs to the current members of our organization.  Board members and staff from each of the existing clubs continue to advocate for area children, in partnership with the school system, law enforcement, community service providers, United Way and the community in general.

The uniqueness of Boys & Girls Club programs makes it essential to the well being of our young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances; that we continue to grow and expand to all corners of the Lowcountry to assure the availability of quality youth development programs to every young person.