Concerned citizens and professionals founded the Club in 2003 to create a safe and engaging environment for Bemidji area youth. One of their goals was to provide opportunities for youth to build relationships with caring adults. They wanted to increase the odds that youth would achieve academic success, make healthy lifestyle choices and develop as engaged citizens. These are the principles of who we are.
The Club opened in a temporary space and then launched a $2 million capital campaign in 2004. The George W. Neilson Foundation contributed more than a million to the campaign and the community contributed the remainder, mostly gifts from individuals and business supporters.
The Bemidji School District sold one of its gymnasium buildings to the Club for a dollar and the Club renovated the space, complete with a 13,000-square-foot addition for offices and youth development spaces. The current 22,000-square-foot facility includes a gymnasium, commercial kitchen and community room, teen center, tween room, multiple game areas, art room, library, and technology center.
In 2007, the Club surpassed 500 annual members. Then in 2009, the Club opened its Teen Center, a canteen, lounge, and computer room dedicated for high school members. In 2014, an anonymous donor funded the purchase of a 12-person van, to help reduce transportation barriers and provides opportunities for more youth to join the Club.
The Club became a licensed exempt childcare center in 2019.
Leonore B. Potter is the founding executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of the Bemidji Area. She served in that capacity from 2003 to 2012, guiding the Club through its formative years, including the acquisition of the current Club property at 1600 Minnesota Avenue NW and a subsequent $2 million capital campaign.
Among her accomplishments, she successfully recruited an effective and engaged board of directors, wrote grants and built community partnerships to support an annual $400,000 operating budget and shaped youth programming. She served on key committees at the national level, including the Training and Professional Development Association of the Boys & Girls Club of America.
Always passionate about youth, Leonore fostered a positive Club culture and built community enthusiasm for youth programming. Upon her retirement, she established the Leonore B. Potter Endowment for Health and Life Skills, which she later rolled into a general Club endowment to help future Club members grow into healthy, responsible and caring young adults.
To learn more about contributing to the Club endowment, contact Andrea Kent, executive director, 218-444-4171.
Sue Engel was a founding member, first board president, a member of the Heritage Club, golf and gala committee member, and overall volunteer extraordinaire.
We lost Sue in December of 2022 after a tenacious fight with cancer. She said then that she was not afraid to go but sad to be leaving all of us. We are sad, too, and very grateful to have had her in our lives.
The Club was one of her greatest loves. And she will be dearly missed.
We cannot begin to account for the many ways she shaped this Club, cared for our youth, and showered all of us with her kindness. Sue was a beloved advocate, the biggest cheerleader, and a true Club champion. Sue’s resiliency, tenacity, devotion and determination helped build the Club into what it is today.
In February 2023, at the Club’s annual gala event, it was with great honor that we presented the inaugural Sue Engel Spirit of the Mission Award to her husband, Steve. Sue embodied the mission of the Club and believed we all have a responsibility to support youth so they can create great futures. She inspired others to give and join in her passion for the Club’s mission.
The Club will honor Sue’s legacy by passing this award to a new recipient each year at our annual gala.
Learn more about her legacy and give a gift in her memory.