[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S188-S189]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO THE LATE TOM GARTH

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, the new year started out sadly for the 
members, friends, staff, and alumni of the Boys & Girls Clubs of 
America when the president of that organization, Mr. Tom Garth, passed 
away.
  What is today the Boys & Girls Clubs of America can trace its history 
back to 1860, when the first Boys Club was opened in Hartford, CT. The 
streets of America's cities during that period were not friendly 
places, they were often dirty, crowded, and dangerous. The 
establishment of Boys and Girls Clubs gave young men and women not only 
a safe haven from the temptations and evils of urban settings, but also 
allowed them to pursue activities that developed their minds and 
bodies.
  While our Nation has grown and changed in many ways in the last 136 
years, much remains the same. Contemporary America is a place with an 
abundance of obstacles for our youngest citizens. In our cities, drugs 
and gangs present a deadly lure to urban children; and in our suburbs, 
teenagers are easily bored by the stale environment which monotonous 
suburbs create and juveniles are often enticed into 

[[Page S189]]
destructive activities. If anything, there is an equal, and perhaps 
even greater, need for Boys & Girls Clubs in the United States of 
today. As the president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Tom 
Garth recognized that fact, and he worked hard to create an 
organization that would effectively reach out to today's children and 
offer them an attractive alternative to running afoul of the law.
  Mr. Garth began his career with the Boys & Girls Clubs as the games 
room director of the Boys Club in East Saint Louis, a city well known 
for being a tough town where opportunities for its citizens, especially 
its children, are scarce. Working in such an environment had a 
tremendous effect on Mr. Garth and would help influence how he would 
run the Boys & Girls Clubs of America when he became president of that 
organization in 1988.
  By all accounts, the tenure of Tom Garth was a successful period in 
the history of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Under his leadership, 
this organization established hundreds of new clubs in areas where 
positive activities for children were desperately needed, contributions 
to the organization increased, and most significantly, the membership 
of the organization has more than doubled, growing to include 2,300,000 
boys and girls. This is an impressive accomplishment and a proud legacy 
for Mr. Garth to have achieved.
  Mr. President, I have long been a supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs 
of America, and it was a pleasure to come to know Mr. Garth over the 
many years he was with the organization. He was a man with a clear 
vision of what he wanted the Boys & Girls Clubs to be and what it would 
take to meet those goals. I am told that one of his last requests was 
to those who he left behind at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 
urging them to work to ensure that by the year 2000, 3 million children 
would be served by the clubs. That is a worthy goal and one which each 
of us in this Chamber would do well to support and help bring to 
fruition.
  Tom Garth was a man with tremendous drive and determination, and 
without question, he could have risen to head any of America's leading 
corporations. Instead of being motivated by the notion of a successful 
and financially rewarding business career, Tom Garth was motivated by a 
desire to make a difference and to make sure that the young people of 
the United States who needed a helping hand, a safe haven, or a role 
model, were given them. Through his 40-year career with the Boys & 
Girls Clubs, he gave millions of children more than a fighting chance 
to grow into productive members of society, and he has truly had a 
positive impact on this Nation through his work. He will be missed by 
all those who knew him, and we join his widow, Irene, in mourning his 
loss.

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