To Croatian people and all friends,

This past year, a dream finally came true for all of the Croatian community in Phoenix. A Croatian-American Club property was purchased, and we would like to thank you all for your generous donations. Also, thank you to all of the people that supported the effort and came to our opening events. Since our institution is still young and growing, we are currently in the process of making some renovations to the center, as well as planning several exciting cultural events. Our goal, as a community, is to make improvements to the clubhouse that will help to make our events more enjoyable for the whole community!

A donation of any amount is welcome, and will go directly to the Croatian-American Club.

   The Croatian – American Club of Phoenix, Arizona is a non-profit organization founded in August of 1954, by Croatians in the Phoenix area. This club is a booming club, consisting of many generations of Croatian-Americans. This club was organized and exists in order to preserve and promote the Croatian heritage, history and culture.

At the end of the 19th century Croatian immigrants began to settle in Globe, Arizona small mining town east of Phoenix. The exodus continued throughout the 20th century. These immigrants were motivated to leave Croatia for economic and political reasons. They were arriving in between the two world wars, after World War II, and just recently during and after the war in former Yugoslavia. The Croatian people are generally a tight-knit group, well known for their hospitality and willingness to help others. This generosity extends to helping those in need, notably many Croatian refugees left homeless, ruined and hopeless after the war. The Croatian-American Club is also a great help for Croatian immigrants who have recently come to the United States in need of guidance and support. The Croatian-American Club was built on this humanitarian generosity, as many years ago the club's founding members, immigrants themselves, helped one another as they each settled in the Phoenix area. They became family to one another since in most cases relatives were left behind as the newcomers wanted better lives for themselves in America.

Eventually, this group of friends, acting on a dream they had for many years, purchased a piece of land and referred to it simply as "the land". Not too long ago, our Club purchased a property that has a building that we would like to build into our “clubhouse”. Soon, we will need to pay off the note. Luckily, as land prices have risen, we are now able to sell our original property to help us develop the new property. Even with this, we need additional funds to complete our dream of having a lodge worthy of our culture and heritage. We want to build a Croatian-American Club together with all friends in order to preserve Croatian culture for future generations.

For generations, the Croatian community of Phoenix has been dreaming of a place where we can preserve our heritage. With this letter, we are asking the Croatian people of Phoenix to help us with donations so that we may finally make this long standing dream a reality. Any donation, no matter the amount, would be greatly appreciated and extremely helpful in reaching our goal. Thank you for taking the time to read about our community. and we sincerely appreciate the help and enthusiasm you show us as we continue on our steps toward a hopeful and bright future for the Croatian-American Club in Phoenix.

It's going to be a great pleasure to have you and your families as our guests !