A ribbon-cutting event was held Thursday for the Boys & Girls Club of the Northwest Suburbs’ new Foglia Woodlands Impact Center in Carpentersville. | Boys & Girls Club of the Northwest Suburbs
By Gloria Casas | The Courier-News
The Boys & Girls Club of the Northwest Suburbs officially opened its teen impact center Thursday, announcing it would be named for the family foundation whose donation helped them meet the the building’s $13.2 million fundraising goal.
The Foglia Woodlands Impact Center at 770 Navajo Drive in Carpentersville is not only the 17th teen center opened by the national nonprofit organization but the largest in the country, according to the club’s Chief Executive Director Amanda Schleede.
At 41,000 square feet, the building includes, among other things, a technology lab in which members can learn to code, build and fly drones, a recording studio, a café run as a business by club members, and a kitchen run by a professional chef teaching members culinary arts.
Chef Maria Terry, center, shows Kayla Johnson, 15, left, and Allison Morales, 15, how to make dumplings during an event Thursday at the opening of the Boys & Girls Club of the Northwest Suburbs’ new Foglia Woodlands Impact Center in Carpentersville. | Gloria Casas/The Courier-News
There’s also space where members can use a virtual reality program to learn how to drive a forklift or do something fun, like tour Australia, said Mike Berger, senior director of safety and facilities.
The donation from the Foglia Family Foundation put the club over its fundraising goal, but Schleede also used Thursday’s ribbon-cutting event to thank all of those who helped bring the project to fruition, including community partners like Community Unit School District 300 and Barrington School District 220 as well as community leaders and club staff.
Addressing the Boys & Girls Club members, who wore T-shirts that read “I Can Change the World,” Schleede emphasized, “this was always about you.”
“Thank you for your patience, your excitement, and for reminding us all why we do this work,” she said. “This is not just a ribbon-cutting. This is a finish line of a journey that started with a vision. It’s a starting line for thousands of kids who are going to walk through these doors for years to come.”
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