Stan Breland, Former Unit Director, Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club

How does a rough and tough, inner-city neighborhood become home to the 2,000th Boys and Girls Club of America? In Las Vegas, it began in part with a major contribution of over $1 million by local tennis pro Andre Agassi. Named after him, it opened to huge applause and support in 1997.

Selected as unit director, Stan Breland enthusiastically recalls, "It was such a magical time when the new club opened. It was a ray of hope and a new promise for hundreds of local kids. I’ll never forget it, as long as I live.

"Then, in 1998, Colin Powell, chairman of America’s Promise at the time, came and spoke at our club. He picked up one of our cinder blocks, and said with such conviction, ‘We can either build a marvelous facility like this with a promise for a better future, or we can build more prisons.’ That inspired me and became my driving force."

Keeping a young adult imprisoned costs U. S. taxpayers between $25,000 - $75,000 per year, according to the national Boys and Girls Clubs of America. One of the best bargains in the nation is the Boys and Girls Clubs, a proven delinquency prevention pro-gram. Plus, dues for the Agassi club are only $10 per year. Currently, there are 10 clubs locally, one school site and two extension programs serving the Las Vegas area.

Growing up, young Breland was a local star athlete in his days at Clark High School and during his college football career in Utah and California. In his senior year, he became the 12th ranked college prospect in the nation for both the National Football League and the Canadian Football League draft. It all changed when:

"I had a knee injury and it knocked me out of the running," says Breland. "One of my knees was only at 70%. I believe this happened for a reason. It got me back working with the Boys and Girls Clubs and I’ve been working with them for over 10 years.

"I grew up in this neighborhood. For me, helping others is my passion and my dream. I’ve had the privilege of impacting the lives of over 15,000 kids from the inner city. It is a great feeling going into a store locally and seeing one of the kids from one of the clubs and watching them develop and seeing them say with pride, ‘Hey, that’s big Stan. He helped keep me out of trouble and on the right path'."

All of the local Boys and Girls Clubs strive to improve each child’s life by instilling self-esteem, courage and positive values through key programs in five primary areas: Character and leadership development, education and career development, health and life skills, the arts and sports, and fitness and recreation.

"As soon as we opened up the doors in 1997 our membership tripled to about 2,000 kids. It was huge. We average about 150 now for our after-school program each day. In the summer our membership gets up to 400 kids a day. Overall, the local clubs serve between 16,000 and 18,000 youths each year."

So how do the kids treat tennis legend Andre Agassi? "They treat him just like everyone else, with respect."

"Big Stan" attributes his warm heart and optimistic thinking to the wisdom he first learned from his mother and grandmother, and all those who have helped him throughout his childhood. These characteristics are now being used today in an empowering way as Stan Breland and the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club team members continue to create a ray of hope and new dreams for our future leaders.

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