Boys & Girls Club

California Associates give back to Boys and Girls Club

When Ontario, CA Location General Manager Chris Petersen was encouraged to find a nonprofit organization in his community to support, he knew immediately which one he'd choose.

"The Boys and Girls Club changes lives," he says, "but I like to think they do more than that. They save lives."

Petersen currently supports the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego as a member of its board of directors. In 2014, he was named Rookie Board Member of the Year.

He says his wife Katherine (a Business Office Associate at the nearby Riverside CarMax location) and her sister were helped tremendously by the Boys and Girls Club when they were children. "Without the Club," he says, "Katherine and her sister would have spent afternoons at home alone while their mom worked to make ends meet as a single mother."

This drive to give back led to Petersen's joining the Club board of directors. Now, other Ontario location Associates are equally passionate about participating in Boys and Girls Club events. They volunteer to keep score during the Club Olympics. They serve Thanksgiving dinners. And with a regional grant from the CarMax Foundation, they worked together with the Club to open a new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) lab and plant an outdoor garden.

Petersen's name now appears on a Boys and Girls Club plaque that recognizes volunteers for outstanding leadership. "I really believe that my award belongs to my fellow Associates who enthusiastically support the Club," he says, "and to CarMax for allowing me the opportunity to serve."