LARENCORE: Jennifer LOPEZ : I’m still Jenny from the…Club.

vendredi 15 septembre 2023

Jennifer LOPEZ : I’m still Jenny from the…Club.

I bet you didn't know this :

One in four kids who attend Boys & Girls Clubs identify as Hispanic or Latino.

I'm one of them.

I was 14 when I started attending the Boys & Girls Club. The Club had just opened to girls for the first time and launched a brand-new performing arts program.

Ballet Hispánico dancer Larry Maldonado ran the program and recruited his colleagues to come to the South Bronx and teach kids in the program dances that celebrated Hispanic and Latino culture — everything from salsa to ballet.

I would spend my afternoons there dancing and then go home and spend my nights dreaming about the next day at the Club. I learned so much from Larry — not just how to dance or what it means to be a performer, but how to believe in myself and in my dreams.

Being at the Club was the first time in my life I realized anything was possible.

That is my wish for every kid like me : a safe place of opportunity and a positive adult role model like Larry who helps them realize anything they dream is possible and empowers them to chase it.

I'm a proud Latina. And I got my start at Boys & Girls Club.

Jennifer Lopez
Boys & Girls Club Alum