The Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Nevada has received $50,000 as this year’s Bank of America Neighborhood Champion.
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Bank of America has named the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Nevada as this year’s Neighborhood Champion for which it has been awarded a $50,000 grant over two years.
Andrew Diedrichsen, president of Bank of America Reno, said the Neighborhood Champions program was created to benefit nonprofits with unrestricted funding for executive leadership training, technical coaching and resources, including networking with national nonprofits. The program is now in its fifth year.
“It’s something we’re proud of to help Northern Nevada organizations that’s going to their services to the next level,” Diedrichsen said. “Part of the grant application from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Nevada was they expressed the need for child care in our community, and this Smart Start program was something they really were starting to build up, and was because of the work they were doing that helped us make the decision to give them the grant.”
The BGCWN in the past year has opened five Smart Start locations offering day care.
The BGCWN opened four centers in Carson City and one in Minden between January 2024 and January 2025 to help parents struggling with affordability and transportation. The club serves 2,200 daily in a structured program before and after school, during school breaks, through day care or pre-kindergarten.
Bank of America’s Neighborhood Champion Grant, Diedrichsen said, is an opportunity for local nonprofits. The program is available by invitation only.
“What is unique is there are two representatives from Bank of America and then we invite past winners, representatives from other organizations that won in the past and other communities for a five-person panel, with three from the community and two from Bank of America and we read the grant application and pick the winner,” Diedrichsen said.
Previous grant recipients from Northern Nevada include the Children’s Cabinet, PBS Reno, Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows and STEP2.
“We were glad to get the first winner in Carson City,” he said.
“We are deeply honored to be selected as this year’s Neighborhood Champion for Bank of America,” Brett Zunino, CEO of BGCWN, said. “Our significant growth in 2024 wouldn’t have been achievable without the unwavering commitment and efforts of our exceptional leadership team. This funding will enable us to create more leadership opportunities, empowering them to develop, inspire others, and drive positive change within the community.”