A member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula staff was among 10 people nationwide to receive a leadership award for his efforts in helping to cultivate youths into future leaders.
Michael Jones, of Redwood City, who has been with the Peninsula branch for the past 13 years and serves as its senior unit director, was named a 2017 Maytag Dependable Leader Award winner on Oct. 27 for his commitment to making a difference in the lives of disadvantaged youths. The award, given to Boys & Girls staff and volunteers who are “dependable and exceptional role models,” comes with a $20,000 grant for the club.
Jones, who said he isn’t big on awards, gave much of the credit to the people he works with each day, as well as his family for putting up with all the long hours he spends on the job.
“I am definitely humbled, blessed and surprised,” he said. “I want to thank everybody who believed in me and thank Maytag for having an award for people that are trying to make the world for the better. I’m surrounded by some great people, I can’t do it without them. … Everybody has touched me, they keep me alive.”
Jones was honored Nov. 9 at the Clubs’ Mervin G. Morris Clubhouse in Redwood City.
He said the best moment was when Clubs’ Executive Director Peter Fortenbaugh spoke directly to Jones’ 8-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son, explaining why they often don’t see their father before they go to bed weeknights and sometimes on the weekend. Jones, who sometimes works seven days a week, said his young children now understand the importance of what he does, and his son, who has to write a paper on a famous person for school, just told him he is going to write about dad.
“That right there is priceless to me. You can’t put an award on top of that, brother,” Jones said. “(My kids) look at me with a different lens now.”
Jones was nominated by Shannon Petrello, Clubs of the Peninsula director of grants and marketing, who said he is “continuously going above and beyond expectations” and is often the first one in and last one out of the clubhouse.
“His innate ability to connect with and motivate Club members is outstanding,” Petrello said in a news release. “Without a doubt, Mike is a dependable leader for our Club members and no matter the challenge, he is committed to helping young people overcome obstacles and feel supported to aspire toward a great future.”
Jones said the $20,000 grant will be used to double the amount of teens attending the Clubs’ national Keystone Conference next year from six to 12, and provide additional academic scholarships to teen finalists vying for the Clubs’ National Youth of the Year. Both initiatives are designed to recognize teens who demonstrate leadership qualities.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula each year serves 2,500 low-income K-12 students at 12 locations in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City, where they receive year-round mentoring, academic skill building, case management and college access programming. The Peninsula branch is one of 4,300 clubs around the nation.
Maytag has partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 2010 on the awards, presenting them to nearly 100 people and providing more than $7 million toward youth programs, according to a statement.
