by: Alison Bailin Batz

So, how does a successful CEO of a major telecommunications business determine how he can give back to the community?

By finding a “calling,” of course!

Thankfully, the call came about nine years ago in the form of Jim Stratton, then-CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. Inspired after learning that the Club’s work was impacting an estimated 16,000 children and teens through the organization’s nine branches and 12 outreach sites located in Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Hualapai Indian Community and other Northeast Valley neighborhoods, DC Ranch resident and President/CEO of Broadband Dynamics, board member Bob Rife was intrigued.

“I wanted to find a way to better align myself with the community, but I had a full-time job as well as a marriage and babies that – rightfully so – took a lot of my time,” said Rife. “Thankfully, Jim knew right what to do – give me a chance to get creative.”

And creative, he got.

“After joining the Club’s Board of Directors, they gave me the chance to do something special in my own way,” said Rife. “I took about 75 of the Club kids to Target for a holiday shopping spree – and an annual giving event was born.”

Before he knew it, Rife was an integral part of the Club’s critical fundraising family.

So much so, he took it to the links, developing a private golf tournament – Fore the Kids – at Silverleaf Golf Club, which took place again this year in the early summer months with the foursome of Barry Chasse, Jonathan Cheek, Rick Baker and Andre Karroum taking first place.

And, Rife’s team is certainly not alone in planning amazing summertime golf outings to benefit our local kids.

Also in May, board members, volunteers and other supporters of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale were pleased to spend a special day with prestigious members of the business and charitable community at the annual Scottsdale Invitational presented by Ironwood Investment Counsel, LLC, at Troon Country Club. Jeff Shiffra of Ironwood Investment Council and Robert Winter of Mutual of Omaha co-chaired the event, and the foursome of Art Hoffman, Zachary Cates, Vince Galate and Chris Fiorentino took home the gold for 2012.  

“Title sponsorship from Ironwood Investment Council and leadership from Jeff allows us to limit the field to 18 foursomes making the event a true invitational and ensuring that we have an intimate environment for our participants to interact and get through the golf round in less than five hours,” said Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale’s Chairman of the Board Rick Baker.

And finally, the Telesphere Invitational was held at Ocotillo Golf Resort chaired by Clark Peterson, board member at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. This annual event featured unique holes such as a casino and monster themed tee boxes.

The foursome of Marc Clark, of Panasonic; Jeff Savage, of Telesphere; Joe Furnari and James Collery, both of Standard Aero took home the first-place honors this year.

“Events like these are critical in helping organizations like ours continue to provide critical services to the community’s youth,” said Baker, who notes the three events netted more than $85,000 for the Clubs. “We are also finding that the funds raised from events like these are also making a positive impact on our local economy.”

According to Baker, together with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley, the Greater Scottsdale Club recently commissioned an economic impact study, funded through the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, to examine the collective impact of 31 Boys & Girls Clubs locations in the Valley on youth served, their families and the larger community.

“The study shows that the Clubs provide millions of dollars of benefit to communities across the metropolitan area. In fact, every $1 spent by the Clubs generates $13.14 in earnings for Club parents. The study also showed that, every $1 spent by the Clubs generates $19.33 in positive economic impacts for the community,” said Baker.

“We sincerely thank the community for helping us to continue to raise funds that are making a difference Valley wide,” said Baker.