Boys & Girls Club leaders earn state recognition

Metro Wire Staff

Leaders from the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County recently received statewide recognition at a state conference.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Wisconsin’s Area Council Conference was held March 10.

Vai Stanislawski, the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County’s Youth of the Year, competed for the Wisconsin Youth of the Year award. As a Club member since first grade, Stanislawski has made an impact at the Club by creating the Club Cafe Program in the Club’s Teen Center and is the current president of Keystone Club, which is a leadership development program for teens.

A founding and longtime board member for the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County, John Noel, was inducted into the prestigious Boys & Girls Club of Wisconsin Hall of Fame, making him one of just 14 inductees statewide.

Noel began efforts to start a Boys & Girls Club for Portage County in 2001, with Club establishment in 2002. Noel’s vision was to provide programs for underserved Portage County youth.

Noel used his own resources and rallied other community leaders to join the effort, and remains one of the most active volunteers for the Boys & Girls Club.

Board Member Dr. Samuel Dinga was honored as the Marty Stein Board Volunteer of the Year for Wisconsin, given to one board member across the state each year.

Dinga started at the Boys & Girls Club as a staff member, hired to oversee teen programming, and later displayed a knack for building and developing programs and relationships that attracted kids to the Club.

Dinga now works as the Director for Diversity & College Access at UWSP, but he remains a board member for the Club.

For more information on the Club, please email [email protected] or call 715-341-4386.