The team of volunteers from Fidelity Investments at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua during Fidelity Cares Day held earlier this year. Courtesy photo/Fidelity Investments

NASHUA – After 10 years of friendship through the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua, Luis Corga and Craig Fitzgerald left the club in 1995 and went their separate ways.

At that time, Corga was bound for college at Keene State University. Four years later, he was hired by Fidelity Investments in Merrimack.

After nine years in the U.S. Air Force as a pararescueman, Fitzgerald went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his Master’s degree from Harvard Business School.

In 2021, Fitzgerald was chosen as the new executive director of the Boys & Girls Club.

By then, Corga had become a senior vice president at Fidelity, which had a thriving partnership with the club.

After 26 years of having virtually no contact, Fitzgerald and Corga, two club kids from the 80s and 90s, were together once again, this time as accomplished professionals.

“It was great to come back full circle,” said Corga. “The friendship that we had back then started right back up.”

Working with the club, he said one of Fidelity’s greatest achievements was creating Kicks for Kids, which has become a flagship program in the partnership.

Corga said a child’s self-esteem is much higher if they are able to start the school year with a new pair of shoes. However, for 70 percent of club families, such purchase is not possible because of financial constraints.

“That immediately resonated with us,” said Corga. “I’ve watched some of these kids as they graduate and see how they’re better off than when they came to the club. A pair of shoes impacts a child’s confidence, not only now, but into the future.”

Therefore, at the end of the summer, a team of Fidelity volunteers takes more than 200 children to Alec’s Shoes to purchase new footwear for the upcoming school year.

“Our employees look forward to this every year,” said Corga, adding that it also gives Fidelity employees the opportunity to teach the children about financial literacy.

Since the program launched in 2015, more than 1,400 children have received shoes through Kicks for Kids.

Fitzgerald said he has fond memories of him and Corga playing basketball at the club.

“The club was a huge part of our lives,” said Fitzgerald.

While it was almost surreal to see Corga after more than 25 years, he was certainly impressed with what his childhood friend had achieved.

In addition to Kicks for Kids, Fitzgerald said Fidelity was instrumental in launching the club’s holiday gift program, Mighty Minds and the garden program.

“They’re one of our strongest partners,” he said.

Despite being the club’s executive director, Fitzgerald said he will never forget the time in his life from 1985 to 1995.

“You see yourself in the kids at the club today,” he said. “Somewhere in the club right now is the next Luis Corga.”