LYNN — The Boys & Girls Club of Lynn has been mentoring the city’s youth for decades and their tradition of bringing the community together to benefit their mission remains.
Early Tuesday evening, the Boys & Girls Club held their 27th Annual Steak and Burger Dinner which honored community members Richard Iarrobino, Brian Magrane, and Raymond Bastarache, as well as Comcast, for their efforts in giving back and committing to the city’s youth.
Obie Barker has been the executive director for the club for the last 20 years and has upheld this annual dinner because of the benefits it continues to have in all of the educational programs for the young club members.
“After being here for a few years I realized there was a lot going on in the community by a lot of people and that’s why we started the Commitment to Youth Award, which recognizes people that help out Lynn’s youth, and the Helping Hands Award, which recognizes people for their volunteer work within our community,” said Barker. “I really enjoy seeing all the various people from the community coming to support the kids.”
There was a silent auction early in the evening with a variety of items, most notably rare and autographed sports memorabilia. The silent auction is where the annual dinner raises most of its money for the children, aside from personal donations from community members and school administrators.
Kendal O’Neill and Kendraliz Guzman, both fifth-graders and members of the same Boys & Girls Club group, were working the room with their vibrant personalities, trying to get attendees to buy as many raffle and silent auction tickets as they could.
“I love coming every year and hanging out with all of my friends,” said Kendal. “Also I like seeing all the people who come, especially the military people because they serve our country.”
As excited as the young girls were to see all of the dinner attendees, they were most excited to help raise money for their after-school safe haven.
“I like seeing people come here to support us and help raise money for our club because without them we wouldn’t have the homework center, which is where I get all my math help,” said Kendraliz.
The children, who love being able to dress up, eat burgers, and greet attendees every year, are the No. 1 priority to the Boys & Girls Club staff members who thoroughly enjoy being able to raise money for them.
“One thing I love about these annual dinners is watching the kids get excited and seeing how much they dance and enjoy being together,” said Alyssa Wilkie, Boys & Girls Club staff member for the last four years. “To watch the community come together to support our kids is really inspirational.”
Ray Bastarache, one of the honorees of the evening, has attended the annual dinner as a school administrator and executive board member of the club for the last five years. Now retired, he was the recipient of the Commitment to Youth Award and was honored during the dinner’s awards ceremony.
“The fact that this generates revenue for the programs that this old building offers for Lynn kids is wonderful because this is critical for the families of the children who come here and make use of this facility. Because if many of them didn’t have this place to come to after school, who knows what they would get into,” said Bastarache.
