The Boys & Girls Clubs of Lakeland & Mulberry and the Citrus Center Boys & Girls Clubs have merged to form the Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County. This merger enables the Boys & Girls Clubs to offer better programs and greater opportunities to more children in Polk County. The team at Alltek was asked to set up their new IT infrastructure, and we were pleased to be a partner in the implementation of their technology solutions.
CEO Steve Giordano will lead the newly formed organization. Steve Giordano is a hands-on, seasoned executive with the experience of building high-performance teams that improve revenue and institutional value. He has held every retail position from entry level laborer to CEO and has experience leading teams in sales, operations, logistics and technology.
Steve has been a VP, EVP, COO, President or CEO for multiple retail companies over the last 20 years (including Macy's, Kane's, The Room Place and Room Store). Most recently, Steve was the EVP of Metro Mattress in Upstate New York.
What Do The Boys & Girls Clubs Of Polk County Provide?
Currently, Polk County has over 100,000 at-risk individuals, 55,000 of whom are children. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County serves more than 1,900 children and teens, with daily average attendance at its eight locations exceeding 750 youth per day. Many come from single-parent, working households, and 90 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch at their schools.
They provide after-school transportation to the Clubs, where children benefit from character-enriching programs, academic support and caring adult mentors dedicated to shaping their futures as productive citizens. The new organization intends to add vocational training (in both the construction trades and computer sciences) to its offerings.
The Clubs Provide Services To Needy Children
According to Clubs officials, many kids arrive at the Clubs each day hungry. It's very difficult to learn and succeed academically if you're hungry. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County is expanding their After School Meal Program. Currently, they serve 300 meals after school in Lakeland and Mulberry, Florida.
They hope to extend the food program to all of their Clubs, so that kids can focus on enriching activities after school, rather than worrying about their next meal. There is only one thing standing in their way… They need a kitchen! If you’d like to donate and make their kitchen a reality click here.
Steve’s Vision
Alltek met with Steve to learn more about his vision for the Clubs, as well as provide an update on the computer network changes that we’ve worked on to bring the two together.
Steve explains:
"We currently serve 2,000 kids throughout Polk County, but there are 55,000 at-risk children in Polk County. I would like to see us serve at least 10,000 in 5 years... In five years, I see the Boys & Girls Clubs as a leading advocate for the youth of Polk County. We intend to upgrade our facilities and enhance staff training in order to give kids an even safer place to feed their minds, bodies and spirits. We’ll have access to grants that propel us forward without restricting our mission. We’ll have everything it takes to nurture the potential of those who will lead and inspire this community. We mean it when we say, for all kids, especially those who need us the most, that Great Futures Start Here!”
Steve has his eyes set on expanding, including covering more of Mulberry and Bartow. He explained that expansion without fixed costs rising much is important. It must be sustainable growth. For example, they are exploring the viability of a Clubs at Gibbon Street Elementary, which will allow them to reach addition children without needing a significant investment in facilities or maintenance. This is an ambitious and inspiring goal.
How Has Alltek Helped With The Clubs’ Merger?
Alltek played a critical role in uniting their technology and network infrastructures to allow collaboration and productivity among all of their sites. We moved their infrastructure to our cloud infrastructure that uses a redundant server setup to ensure uptime, reliability, and speed.
They chose our Managed Cloud and Cloud Consulting Services because we could design a cloud solution customized specifically for their needs. We made sure that it was implemented easily and successfully with a minimum of downtime.
Our experts have helped many businesses across Florida migrate smoothly to the Cloud. We guarantee a quick, easy, and cost-effective transition. We also made sure the staff at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County could keep using technology that they’re familiar with. We’ll be working with their staff to ensure everyone knows how to use their new solutions properly.
Want to contribute to the efforts of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County? Please click here to learn how you can.