CARLSBAD, Calif. -- A Carlsbad man is giving up his six-figure salary for an entire year and giving it to his favorite charity.

In 1959, nine-year-old Greg Nelson first stepped into the Boys and Girls Clubs of Carlsbad. It was home away from home for Nelson and his brother, as their single mother worked hard to keep the family afloat.

"She was working two jobs, so she wasn't around much. So I think the club truly saved my brother and I," said Nelson, the owner of Gregorio's in Carlsbad.

More than 50 years later, Nelson is trying to pay the club back. He said he won't make a dime off his Italian restaurant this year and will give all of his 2010 profits -- which could be more than $250,000 -- to the club.

The donation will go towards a new clubhouse being built in the heart of Carlsbad. Club administrators said the city is outgrowing the old clubhouse located in the downtown village area, which has stood since 1957.

"It is a facility that is literally bursting at the seams with our kids," said Kelly Morrison Pop of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad.

The donation would allow the clubs to close the temporary trailer they opened 25 years ago.

"Twenty-five years is not exactly temporary," said 10News' Joe Little.

"Not quite," said Pop.

The new clubhouse will be 18,000 square feet, and the interior has bare wood and concrete floors. However, the club officials said the current economic climate has slowed donations. The clubs are still in need of about $1.5 million to complete the $7 million project. Nelson's donation could be a big part of that.

More than 50,000 kids, including Nelson, have entertained themselves in the old clubhouse over the years. He said he hopes many more will step inside the new clubhouse as well.

"We just want to see it finished. It's important to get the club opened so we can serve the kids," said Nelson.

Nelson has also donated the first $1 million of the clubs' capital campaign to build the new clubhouse.