Boys and Girls Club of Greater Northwest Indiana Hosts Passport to Impact: Tour to Spain 2026

At Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana, community support helps open a world of possibilities for young people—and Passport to Impact: Tour of Spain is a powerful example of just how far that support can take them.

On Sunday, October 4, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Northwest Indiana welcomed guests to travel into the club as they have never experienced it before, with imagination, purpose, and collaborative efforts that generate long-lasting impact.

Guests arrived to Madrid airport-style, passports in hand, and luggage lining the way. Arriving at the Valparaiso BGC, guests were transported into a first-of-its-kind immersive, world-building, sensory-forward fundraiser, thanks to the visionaries at Spare Room Studios and Orchestrated Events.

 Each passport stamp, interactive booth, club-program activity, and Spanish-inspired tapas, brought guests into BGCGNWI from the eye of a club kid that they will never forget. A story that showed support creates impact, and impact means changing a club kid’s life for the better.

Passport to Impact: Tour to Spain stems from a beautiful and longstanding partnership with Valparaiso’s Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant. A partnership that took shape in the downtown restaurant has since blossomed further with a new vision fueled by unanimous dreams of going bigger and better.

Presenting Sponsors, Carlos Rivero and Elena Jambrina of Don Quijote, encouraged the organization to step outside the comfort of the restaurant, landing them in the immersive Madrid, a world that felt as energetic and hands-on as the club itself.

The Urschel Laboratories-named gymnasium at the Valpo Club of the BGCGNWI was transformed in an effort to blend culture, club programming, cuisine, and community support. Instead of a traditional gala, guests floated through Madrid, alongside interactive demonstrations of the programs that children stand to gain when becoming a club kid.

Roaming statue-like actors stopped to smell the flowers in the Mercado, filled with market booths, a rose garden and arched trellises during the experience. Guests were encouraged to dress in cocktail attire with a Spanish flair while sampling tapa-style foods from local guest chefs, partaking in Spanish wine and cocktails, all to the tune of Spanish-style music by Marco, the Rodeas, and Danae Franco. 

Each mission booth represented a passport stamp, which was earned through the exploration of club programming, and a real-life perspective into how the BGCGNWI is shaping the lives of the families and club kids it serves. For example, the Mentorship booth asked guests to fill out a postcard to their younger selves, while the Art booth gave out kid-made pinch pots and Picasso art. 

“It’s beautiful to see all these people from different parts of Northwest Indiana come together for one purpose,” said Kristen Mirabell, Marketing & Communications Specialist and brainchild of the event, alongside Denise Koebcke, VP of Philanthropy.

“To have donors and community partners come together for one mission really strengthens our programming,” said Mirabelli.  “I came into the organization thinking the Boys and Girls Club was just after-school childcare, and once I fully immersed myself in the BGC world, I realized it’s so much more than that.”

The event featured nine program booths where guests could immerse themselves in club programming, seeing directly how their donations and sponsorships benefit the children.

STEM, education, health and wellness, leadership, art, and technology booths were all inspired by Spanish creativity and cultural reverence. Guests were hands-on with a tile-making activity and a Tomatillo Toss game. Rhythm and tradition came to mind through the senses and music, and the STEM booth explored the running of the bulls through coding and gaming. Guests gathered around the foosball table to practice their shootout in hopes of earning World Cup recognition, or blind-smelled spices and herbs used in traditional Spanish cooking.

Brianna Griffin, Club Director at the Gary Club, shared about the importance of creating opportunities for children and teens to achieve more. Griffin shed light on the Keystone Club, Torch Club, and Youth of the Year — leadership clubs that offer academic success programming, career preparation and community service. “The clubs exist to teach our kids about building skill sets for workforce development, advocacy, and academic excellence,” said Griffin.

Working toward Youth of the Year, a competitive, national BGCA, gives club teens an opportunity to build their leadership style, share it through mentorship, and go on to earn scholarships and career-building opportunities at the state and national level. Real-world experiences that go far beyond club walls.

Marcus Steele, a former National Youth of the Year finalist, recounted his journey through the leadership programs, one that started the day he signed up for the Boys and Girls Club. “Someone showed me more, and because of that, I learned to want more for myself. Every opportunity was another destination. Every mentor was another guide. Every experience was a stamp,” said Steele. “December 2, 2013, was the day I received my first passport, and more than a decade later, I am still collecting stamps. Now, the greatest honor isn’t just adding another stamp to mine, it’s helping another young person get their first.”

Boys and Girls Club of Greater Northwest Indiana did that for Steele, and with years of support, club programming, mentorship, and experience, Steele is doing that for the next generation of kids who walk through those club doors.

1,839 to be exact. That is the number of kids that walk through BGCGNWI doors on any given day. Those are the number of lives that are being cared for while parents finish their workday. Nearly 2,000 kids are building relationships, solving problems, advancing their education, and expanding their worldview.

“Those aren’t just numbers. They are kids,” said President and CEO Mike Jessen. “You may never know their names. You may never know exactly what your support made possible, but you will have helped create that moment.”

Proceeds from Sunday’s event benefit Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana and help support life-changing programs that empower youth, strengthen families, and build brighter futures.

For more information on how to help foster those experiences in the future and generate more impact, visit bgcgreaternwi.org to be a part of the standing ovation for the next generation, because being a club kid starts the minute you sign up. The mission, however, has the potential to keep guiding, mentoring, and helping other kids navigate the destinations that lie ahead.