The Better Boys Foundation (BBF) is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving the west side community of North Lawndale (Chicago Community Area 29). 

How It All Began

BBF was founded in 1961 by Joseph Kellman, the now-retired Chairman and CEO of Globe Glass and Mirror.  Kellman, a native of North Lawndale, opened the agency as a boys’ after-school boxing club.  Housing its own training facilities (the Archie Moore Gym), the club attracted hundreds of neighborhood boys and gained a reputation as one of Chicago’s premiere youth recreation centers.  However, when several boys involved in the club were arrested following the armed robbery of a local store, Kellman recognized that recreational offerings were simply not enough.  Boxing, while positive in its focus on discipline and physical skills development, did little to improve long-term life outcomes for youth individually or as members of the larger North Lawndale community.  As Kellman has been oft quoted to say, “Sports are a lure, not a cure.” 

Our Evolution

That recognition has led to the evolution of the agency over the last 46 years from a single-sex sports program into a multifaceted social service agency, the mission of which is to improve the quality of life for North Lawndale area youth and their families by providing experiences that enhance their emotional, social, academic, and career development. 

Today

Serving some 800 children and youth (more than half of whom are now girls) each year, BBF concentrates its efforts in three major areas:

1) Youth and Family Crisis Counseling

2) Out-of-School Time Programming

3) Scholarships and Career Guidance Assistance

BBF’s programs provide a scaffold within which children and youth ages five to 21 years can grow, flourish and ultimately succeed outside of the supporting structure we provide—in school, in their careers and in their personal lives.