DR. JIM GEIGER

In the early 1950s, a young Jim Geiger, who lived in public housing, started attending the Club. At that time it was just the Boy’s Club…girls didn’t join until later. Jim faced a reading comprehension and stuttering problem that proved difficult, but the leaders and older children assisted Jim – helping him overcome both of these obstacles. While attending the Club, Jim also learned to play basketball, which eventually landed him a scholarship at the University of Virginia. Jim completed his undergraduate degree at King College, and continued to volunteer at the Club throughout college. “The Club just saved me,” explains Geiger. “I don’t know where I would have been without them. When I retired, I joined the Board of Directors and realized that we couldn’t do anything without the help we receive from the United Way of Bristol.”

 821 young people, ages 5-18, had a safe place to go after school and during the summer last year because the Boys and Girls Club of Bristol was there to help.