The creedo for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America is to 'enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.'

Steve Kelley, Associate Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, puts it more simply: “The mission is to help every kid that comes through our doors maximize the potential they have as a person, as a student and eventually as a citizen.”

In large part to Kelley ('71) and Billy Robertson ('82), the Director of Operations, the City of Lawrence is a better place with better citizens because of the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, hence the bestowment of the Family Lew Community Impact Award.

Kelley and Robertson will be honored at UMass Lowell's Second Annual Dream of Perfect Games: A Celebration of Sport Saturday, Sept. 29 (6 p.m.) at the Inn and Conference Center.

When Kelley or Robertson talks about the Club, two words are omnipresent: potential and family. Kelley and Robertson were members of the Boys and Girls Club as kids. What has been done for them has had a massive ripple effect on hundreds, perhaps thousands of Lawrence-area youths.

The proof is on the Club's website: 95 percent of their teen members graduate from high school and go on to college. Over 85 percent of their youth complete teen pregnancy prevention education. Over 13,000 community service hours were performed by Club youth in 2010. And, 100 percent of their kids learn respect, fair play and personal responsibility.

“If you can push the right buttons of any kid, if you can find something that they love, you can get them to do almost anything,” said Kelley. “If a kid believes in his or herself, that they are capable of something, they can do it. And we'll give them the tools they need to do it.”

The “tools” to which Kelley refers are the many programs the Club offers that cover five areas: character and leadership, education and career development, arts, sports and recreation and health and life skills.

“It's a culture we have developed over a lot of years,” said Robertson. “Twenty-five years ago, many of our kids didn't go to college. They would quit school to support their families. It was our job to change that.”

There is a basketball program which consists of more than 200 members; an academic basketball camp – admissible by way of a letter of recommendation from a teacher – which has drawn 250 youths; and after-school programs that see more than 200 kids doing homework with as many as 50-60 tutors.

There are meals for those in need. Every day.

“We are bombarding them with fun stuff and with the reality that education is really important,” Robertson said.

And then there are the success stories.

Bill Perocchi, the CEO of Pebble Beach Resorts who grew up in Lawrence, credits the Club for changing his life, so much so that he donated $1 million toward building the Club's palatial facility on Water Street in Lawrence.

“The Club meant so much to me when I was growing up in the projects in Lawrence,” Perocchi said. “It was a place where people cared about me, taught me discipline and encouraged me to set goals and work hard. My experiences at the Club were some of the best memories of my childhood, which wasn't an easy one.

“The staff at the Club were role models for me and Steve Kelley and Billy Robinson continue to do the same today, encouraging thousands of kids to work hard and follow their dreams,” he added. “I will never forget what the Club did for me. It is a big part of who I am.”

Kelley said he hasn't had a bad day since he's been affiliated with the Club. That's 46 years.

“A good day is when the kids come in here and you know you've made a difference for them for that day.”

Robertson lives in Newburyport, Mass., with his wife Mary and their two children: Jacob (9) and Mallory (14).

Kelley lives in Methuen, Mass. with his wife Sonya. They have raised two grown children, Raymond and Carlos Nunez; and are currently raising sons Andrew (8) and John (6).