Last Saturday night some gal friends and I were hired to help out at the annual fundraiser for the charity of
Boys to Men. Yolanda, Lauren, Alison, Marcelle, Lisa and I had the distinct pleasure and easy job of mingling, eating, chatting and basically keeping the high-rolling money bags happy so that we could get them to open up their wallets and donate to this needy cause :)
As a little background, I think if a person were to poll a cross section of Americans the vast majority would agree that our society is headed in the wrong direction. The statistics on rape is out of control and our prison systems are overwhelmed with violent criminals. Here’s where BTM comes in, one of the current hot topic in the headlines right now is fatherless homes. Three out of every four men in prison were raised in a home without a father. In 1960 our society had 8% of our children coming from fatherless homes, and today that number is approaching 24%!!!!
Boys To Men takes these at-risk adolescents and brings them through a process that shows them that there are men in society that actually do care about them and love them. Then we teach our model for manhood and that is to live a life of integrity, truth, and honor. After an intense weekend out in the wilderness where they are nurtured, role modeled and brought through a right of passage into manhood, the boys are then matched up with a man who can mentor them for the next few years of their adolescence.
During the dinner they brought forward about 15 boys varying from 13 through mid-20s who are either going through the program now or are graduates and mentors now. It was so moving to hear 2 of them speak and especially when they showed video footage of them bonding and opening up in the camp, a few of us (ME, of course!!) were brought to tears.
Since the vast majority of my students come from broken families and poor socio-economic households, I certainly have seen on a daily basis how badly some youth are when they are not taught responsibility, right from wrong, and even just good manners. I really was moved by this organization and its leaders. They spoke so eloquently and break the barriers and anger down in these boys. And they teach them it's okay to express their feelings and even to cry. I would say my only complaint is that I didn't note a single minority kid in the program outside of 1 African boy from Chad in the video who now lives in the USA. They definitely need to work on that. The program is currently being done in Canada and the USA but they are going to start implementing it in Africa soon. Amazing!
Thus it was a good night for a great cause. The best part of all was watching some of the young boys flirt with 20-somethings Alison and her blond friends Marcelle and Lisa. We made 2 of the boys' year when we made them dance together! Afterwards they came up to us and asked us to email the photos - you know they are going to be Big Men on Campus now!! I wagged my finger at them (they had enough sense to stay away from my 35 year old arse) and teased them, "These better NOT end up on MySpace!!!"
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