With the help of a substantial donation by Pat Neal, chairman of the board at Neal Communities, and his wife, Charlene Neal, Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County, an afterschool and summer program that offers hope and opportunity to every child in the community, has broken ground on its new facility. The longtime Lakewood Ranch-based builder and philanthropist and his wife will make $200,000 contributions over the next five years, totaling $1 million for the nonprofit’s Invest in Kids campaign. The couple’s donation will underwrite the new flex field at the Club. With less than $200,000 needed to close out the $7.5 million Invest In Kids campaign to rebuild the physically and functionally obsolete DeSoto Club, Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County held a groundbreaking ceremony on June 1 to celebrate the start of construction. The new campus will serve up to 600 kids, more than double the number currently served by the nonprofit. The new Flex Sport Field at the DeSoto Club campus will be named the Patrick and Charlene Neal Field.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County