AFDW commander inducted into Boys and Girls Club Alumni hall of fame

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Ashleigh Peck
  • Air Force District of Washington Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ANDREWS-NAVAL AIR FACILITY WASHINGTON, Md. (AFNS) --  Air Force District of Washington Commander Maj. Gen. Darren McDew was one of nine outstanding alumni inducted into the Boys and Girls Club of America Alumni Hall of Fame May 2 in San Diego, Calif.

BGCA annually recognizes distinguished alumni during the organization's national conference to celebrate the accomplishments of former BGCA members.

The event honors alumni who have gone on to make major contributions in their fields to include sports, entertainment, business, medicine, politics, justice, art and education.

Inducted this year into the Alumni Hall of Fame alongside McDew were: Olympic swimmer Anthony Lee Ervin, actors Powers Boothe and Cuba Gooding Jr., ballet dancer Misty Copeland, playwright and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire, New York Yankee's pitcher CC Sabathia, Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association Ernest Stevens Jr., and singer Ne-Yo.

McDew and his three brothers attended the Hampton Boys Club for five years while their father was stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Va.

At the conference McDew talked about the impact the club has had on his life and how it helped him become the leader he is today.

"I think The Boys Club gave me an opportunity to figure out who I was. I was a shy kid who read books all the time. I didn't know much about sports and I wasn't very good at them. The Boys Club gave me role models and an opportunity to figure out I could be part of a team. The club helped me see who I could become later in life," McDew said.

McDew often speaks to America's youth about achieving success and becoming leaders.

"You don't have the ability to dream things just because you read about them in a book; sometimes you just have to see it in human form. The Boys Club gave me my early opportunities to see leadership firsthand," McDew said. "Sometimes you need someone to show you what you can dream."

The BGCA began a partnership with DoD during the Persian Gulf crisis in 1990. As parents in the Reserve and National Guard were deployed overseas, local Clubs provided memberships to 17,000 youth at 520 locations. Since then, BGCA went on to develop a formal partnership with each branch of the Armed Forces. Today, 4,000 Clubs can be found on U.S. military installations of all services in 15 countries worldwide. The programs serve over four million military-connected youth.

According to their web site, since its inception more than 100 years ago, the BGCA has provided children of all backgrounds with the opportunity to grow and realize their dreams.