With great power comes great responsibility: Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana announces its 2026 Clubhouse Hero Challenge

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…the Clubhouse Heroes! On Monday, April 13, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana hosted its Clubhouse Hero Breakfast event for local community leaders who will be serving as Superheroes for Club kids in this year’s 2026 Clubhouse Hero Challenge.

This 17-day fundraising competition helps raise funds to support local kids in the Clubs with safe environments, mentoring, and programming. The top fundraiser will win the title of 2026 Clubhouse Hero of the Year and a trophy created at our Best Buy Teen Tech Center. At the end of the campaign, all 20 heroes will come together to celebrate alongside a select group of Club kids across 9 Clubs.

“Each year, we look for new ways to elevate the impact and reach of this campaign because our community continues to show up in such a powerful way,” said Kristen Mirabelli, marketing & community engagement specialist for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana. “This year, we focused on expanding the campaign in a more intentional, marketing-driven way by growing to 20 heroes and creating interactive tools that make it easier for people to engage and give. Each hero now has their own branded cape with their name and a QR code that links directly to their fundraising page, making it easier than ever for people to support them in real time. We also introduced our Flat Superheroes, which serve as a creative marketing tool to help each hero share their story, spread awareness, and drive funds to their individual campaigns in a fun and engaging way.”

Denise Koebcke, vice president of philanthropy with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana, has been with the team for almost two years. The Clubhouse Hero Challenge was one of the first initiatives she started as a way to engage community members in the mission of the Clubs through an engaging peer-to-peer fundraiser.

“This is our third Clubhouse Heroes campaign in two years due to the amazing level of interest by our local leaders and potential heroes; we couldn’t do it without the support of our community,” Koebcke said. “Of course, the Boys & Girls Clubs is a national name, but many people don’t understand that each organization is funded locally. We have nine Clubs across Lake and Porter counties, along with 12 Kidstop sites, and we served about 8,500 kids last year in these communities.”

The Clubhouse Hero campaign started with eight heroes during the fall Return to Learn annual campaign its first year. That number doubled to 16 last spring for the second campaign and has expanded once again to 20 heroes for 2026.

“It’s fantastic to bring together philanthropic people who care and understand that kids are the future of Northwest Indiana,” Koebcke said. “Supporting kids across our whole Region – it helps the positive culture in our communities grow. “

Lyndie Walton-Littell, vice president at Continental Electric, was last year’s big winner for the 2025 Clubhouse Hero Challenge. She considered last year’s campaign to be very sentimental, as her family has always been a part of the Clubs.

“My kids go to the Clubs, and I went there too,” Walton-Littell said. “We threw a party at the Valparaiso Club. A couple of other superheroes helped me put that together, and we got to introduce ourselves in front of about 200 children. I almost broke down in tears seeing all of their faces. That was just one of the Clubs we were able to impact, and we all walked away with new friends at the end of the campaign.”

Last year, Walton-Littell raised over $9,000. She has goals going into this year’s campaign to reach new heights and defend her title as the winner.

“I’m looking forward to at least breaking the $10,000 barrier, because I was just a little short of that last year,” Walton-Littell said. “If I can raise half of what the goal is independently, that would be awesome. That’s the goal for myself, but there’s so many new faces in the room that weren’t here last year, which means I’ll walk away with an even bigger network. I want to expand in my personal life with the Clubs, and this is the easiest way to do it with the most reward at the end.”

Porter County Sheriff , Jeff Balon, was named one of the 20 Clubhouse Heroes for this year’s campaign. He can’t wait to represent Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana and support this fundraising campaign.

“It’s an honor to be recognized as a hero for the Boys & Girls Clubs,” Balon said. “They bring so many people together for the benefit of our children. For me, it’s about something bigger than myself. It’s about going out there to support their mission. I saw this last year and thought it was really neat, so when Denise asked me if I wanted to be a part of this, I was totally on board.”

Chris Mahlmann, founder of GreatNews.Life, was one of the 16 Clubhouse Heroes last year. As a hero once again for this year’s campaign, he’s looking forward with the hope of doing even better this time around.

“Everything that happens in these Clubs is a positive thing,” Mahlmann said. “Every family benefits by people going to the Clubs because they’re safe, supervised, mentored, and educated. I got my butt kicked last year, and I’m very competitive. I’m going to be out early and often to redeem myself and support them as much as I can.”

Most importantly, the Clubhouse Hero Challenge is an opportunity for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana to lead by example through 20 leaders who want to support local youth.

“These are role models who can set an example in the community,” Koebcke said. “Our kids are seeing police officers, council members, trustees, business people – everyone who runs the gamut of life across Northwest Indiana. We have people who want to be heroes for a good cause, working hard to give back to the community. There is nothing more important than setting that example for our kids, our parents, our staff, and the entire community. I think it resonates really well with our parents to see the community rallying around the kids.”

The full list of this year’s heroes includes Sami Welter, Jesse Harper, Dilane Knights, Brendan Clancy, Chris Mahlmann, Curt Bowers, Giavonni Downing, Alex Ascolani, Michael Moreth, Jeff Balon, Michelle Arnold, Bo Thorgren, Lyndie Walton-Littell, Connie Conroy, Natalie Beare, Chad Copeland, Michelle Snider, Alyssa Gawlinski, Courtney Respess, and Jerry Czarnecki. 

April is expected to be a big month for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana. The Clubs will be offering free Love and Logic parenting classes to support families in the Region. The organization is also partnering with Mental Health America and CASA as a way to raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month. All of these initiatives, along with the Clubhouse Hero Challenge, should set Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana up for a successful season ahead.

To support the 2026 Clubhouse Here Challenge, visit fundraise.givesmart.com/vf/ClubhouseHero. For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana, you can visit bgcgreaternwi.org.