Resident Honored by Boys and Girls Club

Resident Richard A. Cook has won the Boys and Girls Club’s highest honor: the Eagle Award.

Cook, 49, immediate past president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley, said that he was surprised by the recognition from the club on Jan. 23. “It’s a reminder of the effort [the board] thinks I put forth to the organization,” said Cook, who is president of a local adhesives company.

Councilman John J. Collins, a member of the club’s corporate membership board and fund-raising committee, said that Cook helped the club through financial difficulties.

“He really saved the Boys and Girls Club,” said Collins, himself a past recipient of the Eagle Award.

With his business background and knowledge, Cook “helped institute policies and procedures that established a higher level of credibility to the Boys and Girls Club,” Collins said.

Cook joined the board of the youth club in 1991 and continues to serve on its executive committee.

As president, Cook oversaw the merger of the club with another local youth group and was involved in development of a new Fountain Valley club at Mile Square Regional Park.