Suburban Optimist Club (SOC)

The Suburban Optimist Club of Buena Park is part of the Optimist International (OI) Organization which was founded in 1919 and provides a service to our nation's youth through its 172,000 members belonging to 4,100 clubs.  OI conducts over 55,000 community and youth oriented projects annually affecting 5 million youngsters. 

The Suburban Optimist Club, through its members supervises and sponsors many programs which address the needs of our community such as the Just Say No anti-drug club for elementary school children, Respect For Law to instill in youth the respect and responsibility to the laws of our community, Oratorical and Essay Contests (including a special contest for the hearing impaired) to provide an avenue for youth to express themselves in a positive way, Tri-Star Basketball sports competition, Youth Appreciation and Youth Recognition dinners for high school graduates and the hearing impaired to acknowledge the contributions of today's youth to our communities.  

 We  host Christmas parties for disadvantaged and disabled children as well as supporting our local Optimist Boy's Home. These events touch the lives of several hundreds of children each year and over the past 37 years have enriched the lives of many times that number.

The Suburban Optimist Club sponsors a Junior Optimist program with Boys and Girls of Jr. High school age.  In addition, funds from our annual Pancake Breakfast are donated to youth organizations and local churches that  participate in the South East Youth Organization, better known as SEYO which currently has over 2,000 youths involved in sports activities.  The Suburban Optimist Club retains members on the Board of Representatives of SEYO and all officers of SEYO are members of the Suburban Optimist Club.