100 years of helping kids: Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club marks centennial

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A major milestone is being marked for a group that helps 10,000 children in New York City every year.

The Kips Bay Boys and Girls is marking 100 years, and Thursday the non-profit showed off its big fundraiser: a cool way for you to help out.

The Show House features the work of 22 designers. They redo rooms in a New York City mansion to the highest end, and it's a treat to talk through these rooms.

And while you do so, you're doing good for an important New York City organization.

When school ends for the day, 6 year old Shiloh Lalondriz starts tap dancing away at the Kips Bay Girls and Boys Club.

"I love the staff, I love the games, I love my friends," she says.

There's something for just about every child here, right down to homework time. It's the reason 15-year old Jaylene Brown has been coming since she was 9.

"The atmosphere, the help that people give through the different staff members, and the opportunities that they provide for you," said Jaylene.

The club started in Kips Bay, Manhattan for 800 boys. Now, 100 years later, it serves 10,000 boys and girls at 10 locations, all in the Bronx.

It's the very same location its executive director attended.

"It really prepared me for life in general," said Daniel Quintero. And as a kid, he heard of the Kips Bay Show House. Now he counts on it as the program's biggest fundraiser, each year designing and transforming rooms in a stately home.

David Phoenix created a luxurious bedroom. Working on the project was a labor of love.

"I came from a broken home and ran away at 15. After getting to know the people at Kips Bay and hearing their stories, it was touching to me, and I'm all about keeping kids off the street and giving them a place to go," he said.

"The fact that it may be worlds apart, yes, but they really do a great job at bridging the gap and understanding what the needs are in the Bronx and we're fortunate for that," said Quintero.

This year's house is the Arthur Sachs mansion on East 66th Street. Tickets for tours and events will raise nearly a quarter of the annual $9 million budget. Money that could keep kids like Shiloh tapping for the next 100 years.

"It's really fun and this is where I get my passion from," she said.

20,000 people are expected to tour the home. Tickets are $35, and the house is open every day through June 11.

For more information on the Kips Bay Show House, visit:

http://www.kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org/events