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 GIving Back
Former Member Keeps Club Close to Heart
At the age of 9, Gregory Nelson didn't have anywhere to go after school. With an absentee father and a mother who worked nights to make ends meet, Nelson found sanctuary at the Boys & Girls Club of Carlsbad, Calif. "My mother took my brother and me by the hand, walked us into the Club and said this was where we'd be spending every afternoon," he recalls. "It quickly became our second home." Almost 50 years later, Nelson is still an active member of his Club, giving back to the place he credits with getting him where he is today: a successful businessman, husband and father of four.
"Here was a kid whose family didn't even have enough money for a Thanksgiving turkey," says W. Douglas Hall, former executive director of Nelson's Club. "But he was also a kid who had a remarkable personality and incredible energy. I knew he’d be a success one day."
When Nelson was 13, Hall gave him his first job at the Club, cleaning and sweeping floors for $2 an hour. He eventually held many positions, from aquatics director to executive director.
Even after Nelson left the Club in 1980 to start his own garage-based business making knee braces, he never forgot the values he discovered there. "I learned everything about business from my Boys & Girls Club, simply by observing the people around me," he says. His success as an entrepreneur made him a millionaire and he became a generous contributor to all Clubs in the area.
Today, Nelson and his wife, Barbi, open their home for private fundraising dinners, coordinate community events for Clubs, and have personally donated thousands of dollars. The Nelsons recently made a gift of $1 million, which will be used to refurbish the Club that gave Nelson his start in life. "When I see a kid in the community who recognizes me and thanks me for teaching him to swim or keeping him away from drugs," he says, "that’s when I realize how valuable this organization really is."
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