No Excuses: Yvonne Bogdanovich’s commitment goes beyond boys and girls
Yvonne Bogdanovich. Photo by David Fairchild
Yvonne Bogdanovich can still recall when she got the letter. The return address on the envelope read, “Boys and Girls Club San Pedro.” Inside was a brief, but kind letter from an old friend named Mike Lansing, asking a favor.
“Mike was a teacher at Holy Trinity for years when all of my kids went there. He sent me a very nice letter asking me if I would join the board of directors at the Boys and Girls Club. At that time I didn’t know why he had asked me, I didn’t have any ties to the organization mainly because when I was growing up it was a boys organization,” said Bogdanovich. “I thought to myself, ‘what do I know?’”
During what Bogdanovich planned to be a short, polite phone call declining the position, Lansing successfully pleaded her into the two-year term.
“When I took on this position, she was the first person I contacted to see if she would come and be a part of the board. I had seen her involvement in Holy Trinity School, both personally and in rallying other people to support our school,” said Mike Lansing, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club San Pedro. “I knew she had that leadership skill set and I wanted to change the board from almost entirely male, to having more women on the board.”
Eighteen years later, Yvonne Bogdanovich sits as the President of the Board of Directors, only the second female president in the organization’s entire 75 years. “The terms have just kind of turned over and over, and I’ve been here ever since that phone call in 1994,” said Bogdanovich.
The reality is that Bogdanovich has a “no excuses” attitude. Her innate ability as a leader to muster support and fundraising for not only the Boys and Girls Club, but also non-profit organizations like the San Pedro Peninsula Cancer Guild, and USC’s Town and Gown scholarship organization, shines through as she vigilantly continues to take action to help those in need.
Eighteen years ago the daily attendance at the Boys and Girls Club was 115. They had one site in San Pedro. Today the program has around 2,500 members, with three locations.
“What has happened is that the program keeps growing because more and more children have come to us; first, because the program is so successful, and second because so many nonprofits are terminating or severely limiting their youth programs,” said Lansing. “It’s been tough fiscally, because for us more kids doesn’t mean more revenues. It means more expenses. Yvonne has always led the charge in not making excuses about fiscal problems and assembling events that help our organization’s continued growth.”
Bogdanovich grew up in San Pedro in a family whose roots were a model of tenacity and commitment. “My dad emigrated from the former Yugoslavia, when he was sixteen years old. He was out of high school and didn’t want to go to the war, so he came here,” said Bogdanovich. “He only had a high school education, but when he settled in San Pedro he met some other men from Yugoslavia including Martin J. Bogdanovich, with whom he would become one of the founding members of Starkist Foods. My dad was a hard worker and stayed with the company his entire life. ”
Her father’s loyalty and hard work seems to have fostered Bogdanovich’s dedicated character. She has devoted her entire adult life to fundraising and making personal commitments with organizations that create otherwise impossible opportunities for those in need.
“Recently we wanted to do a middle school expansion in our mini facility here in San Pedro, so we could serve more middle school youth and further develop our College Bound program. I needed a lead gift to start that process and be able to approach other people for donations,” said Lansing. “Yvonne jumped on board, and because of her generosity, we were able to raise over a million dollars to make much needed improvements to a forty-six year old facility.”
The Boys and Girls Club is not the only organization that has persevered due to Bogdanovich’s whole-hearted efforts. After joining the San Pedro Peninsula Cancer Guild in 1986, she helped bridge together a friendship between the organization and the doctors at USC’s Norris Cancer Center, with whom she had created a relationship during her husband’s time at the center.
“Originally the Guild started out in a partnership with the American Cancer Society, but in 1995 we decided, as individuals we would support them, but decided as a group to partner with the Norris Center,” said Bogdanovich. “We wanted to be able to designate where our fund went, and under the American Cancer Society everything goes into one general fund.”
The Guild’s most recent donations to the Cancer Center have amounted to nearly $70,000 depending on the fundraising event. Bogdanovich’s own financial generosity has continued to serve as inspiration for others to do the same.
Bogdanovich’s philanthropic efforts have gone beyond the call of duty in serving the San Pedro community. Her service and leadership has proven a predominant force in the Pedro area.
“Yvonne deserves to be recognized for her work in the community and in getting others to participate in our organization,” said Lansing. “A few years back it was easy for me to submit an application to the Boys and Girls Club national organization on behalf of Yvonne’s service. It was impossible for them to not recognize her overwhelming enthusiasm towards the organization.”
Bogdanovich does not see herself as a philanthropist. She may even chuckle when you call her a prominent leader in the community, but don’t be fooled by her humble exterior. Bogdanovich has lived her life according to a simple maxim: those who are capable of giving back to their communities have a duty to do so.