GoodWorks Youth Awards November 17

A great, annual event takes place this week and you should come out to show your support. The GoodWorks Youth Awards honors exemplary young people who are doing good works in the areas of diversity, education, and the environment. The ceremony is this Thursday, November 17, 6-9 p.m. at the Mint Museum Uptown (500 S. Tryon St.).

Scene at the 2010 GoodWorks Youth Awards. Photo by Jon Strayhorn/Media Arts Collective.

The GoodWorks Youth Awards is hosted by my friend and colleague, Rahman Khan, president of GoodWorks Media Group, who also hosts the local PBS show of the same name. Rahman is passionate about showcasing the positive aspects in our community to help balance out the negative news coverage we're so often inundated with. The keynote speaker Thursday is Molly Barker, founder of Girls on the Run. Molly is an inspiring speaker, who wowed audiences at TEDxCharlotte last year. The GoodWorks Youth Awards also features special guests NBA Hall of Famer James Worthy and Revolution Racing NASCAR driver Ryan Gifford.

Click here to purchase tickets to the GoodWorks Youth Awards, which are $30 for adults and $20 for youth.

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MENCONNECT Kick-Off Breakfast this Saturday

The MENCONNECT 2011-2012 Kick-Off Breakfast takes place this Saturday, October 22 and if you're an adult male in Charlotte who wants to volunteer as a mentor or tutor to make a positive difference in a young boy's life, then you should come see what this program is all about. You'll be served a free, delicious breakfast so what do you have to lose? The event takes place 10-11:30 a.m. at the Charlotte Scottish Rite Building, 4740 Randolph Road.

MENCONNECT is an initiative of Communities In Schools that creates opportunities for positive males in the community to connect with students at four local schools--Berryhill School, Druid Hills Academy, Hidden Valley Elementary, and Thomasboro Academy--to develop long-term mentoring relationships.

I started volunteering with the program last spring when I began mentoring a fourth grader at Druid Hills during the last month and a half of the school year. I would come to his school and have lunch with him once a week. I found that time I spent with him to be very rewarding and not demanding on my schedule at all, and I have continued to be his lunch buddy this school year.

I plan to attend the breakfast this Saturday and hope that several of you will join me there.

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Urban League Recruiting for Jobs Training Program; Men Who Care Global to Present Community Report

There are two separate community meetings taking place tomorrow morning (Wednesday, August 24) that are providing valuable services and information to the Charlotte area.

The Urban League of Central Carolinas is recruiting for its highly acclaimed 21st Century Jobs program. The program offers free national certifications in career fields such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and fiber optics/broadband. Classes are set to begin September 12 at the Urban League, 740 W. Fifth Street, Charlotte. An information session for the 21st Century Jobs program will be held tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Urban League. Instructors and former students will be on hand to answer any questions, and applications will be accepted. Class size is limited and open on a first-come first-served basis. For more information, call 704-373-2256 ext. 218 or email info@urbanleaguecc.org. www.urbanleaguecc.org

Men Who Care Global, whom you may have learned about when the organization was planning a Fourth of July rally in Uptown in response to a previous incident involving hundreds of misguided African-American youth ("'Men Who Care' Want to Save Our Youth"), is holding a press conference tomorrow at 11 a.m. to present their community report. The press conference will be held at the office of Charlotte businessman and founder of Men Who Care, Ron Leeper, at R.J. Leeper Construction, 601 Morris Street. For additional information or questions, contact Colin Pinkney at cpinkney@urbanrestoration.org or 704-391-0022 ext. 39.

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Great News Story On Mentoring In Charlotte

The latest story in FOX Charlotte's "Reboot Charlotte" series is about mentoring youth ("More People Are Mentoring"). If you aren't familiar with the series, "Reboot Charlotte" is the news station's ongoing chronicling of the city as it "emerges from the recession and is thrust onto the world stage with the Democratic National Convention." The segment on mentoring captures an important piece of Charlotte's great philanthropic culture.

FOX Charlotte anchor Morgan Fogarty tells the story of how local people are giving more of their time, at a time when it's more difficult for some to give money. If you've ever volunteered as a mentor to a young person then you likely agree that time is the most valuable thing you can give.

One of the people Morgan interviewed is Katie Black, a wonderful, caring woman who mentors at Druid Hills Elementary School and is actually the person who recruited me. Thanks to Katie, I began mentoring a fourth grader at Druid Hills during the last six weeks of the school year--meeting with him for one hour a week during his lunch and recess period. I plan to continue to be his "lunch buddy" during this upcoming school year. If you would like to learn more about this program, which is a part of Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, email me and I'll gladly tell you more about it: JarvisH@grownpeopletalking.com. Druid Hills is being expanded from K-5 to K-8 this upcoming school year, so the mentoring program will certainly need more volunteers. It only requires a little of your time and makes a big difference.

Katie Black discusses her mentoring program with Morgan Fogarty.

Another person Morgan interviewed is Brian Willis, president of 100 Black Men of Charlotte, which has the Movement of Youth mentoring program. Brian has a great part in the news clip where he says, "They ask you two questions in Charlotte: what church do you go to and where do you volunteer? And if you don't have an answer, then your conversation is pretty short in this city." I agree wholeheartedly. I've attended several meetings and events during the last six months or so where some very successful people were present and they talked about the importance of volunteering, mentoring, or just overall making a positive difference in the community. We're seeing this come together in a big way with Project L.I.F.T., for example.

Watch the four-minute news video below (or click here to view it).

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'Men Who Care' Want to Save Our Youth

A new organization and community effort has stepped up to address a problem that has become far too prevalent in Charlotte (as in many other cities and towns across the country): too many misguided/unguided, young black males. Men Who Care Global has recently launched, and in response to the violence and uncivil disobedience that occurred on the Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend in Uptown Charlotte, they're rallying around the upcoming Fourth of July celebration.

If you aren't familiar with what took place exactly one month ago today, seventy people were arrested in Uptown the night of May 28, mostly young black males, and even worse--a 22-year-old was shot and killed ("Tension rose for hours before melee, police say"). Some have blasted the media for their portrayal of the incident, saying that the published stories and newscasts exaggerated the level of chaos that actually took place. I say, if your focus is on how the media covered it, you're partly the reason we as a society can't solve our most troubling issues. I don't shoot the messenger, because we have too many actual shooters, too much gang activity, too much drug-dealing, too much violence in the black community and not enough people willing to do anything about it.

Looks like Men Who Care, whose mission is to "positively intervene in the lives of young African-American males through spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and financial knowledge transfer..." is attempting to do something about it.

The organization is trying to pull together 1,000 black men who'll be a positive presence in Uptown on July 4. Organizers say they're doing this because they recognize that "adult male presence where young people congregate is a deterrent to disorderly behavior." And in describing the objectives of Men Who Care, they state: "We believe that men are the problem; we believe men are the solution."

Amen.

Anyone who knows me personally knows I don't mince words when it comes to this topic. Aside from my mentoring of youth, I try to support positive causes whenever I can, including often on this blog. A couple of weeks ago, I vented my frustration on Facebook: "I'm still waiting on the Facebook pages and Twitter hashtags... Or did I miss them?"

The Men Who Care website has recently gone up at www.mwcglobal.org, and I'm presuming more content will be added soon. They're holding a press conference tomorrow (Wednesday, June 29) at 11:30 a.m. at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St. And a prep-session is scheduled for July 2 at West Charlotte High School. For more details, call 1-855-MWCGlob (1-855-692-4562) or email MWCGlobal1@gmail.com.

If you need a visual as to why it is important that the community supports this cause, watch the video below that CMPD released of surveillance of Uptown on the night of May 28. We have to do a better job leading our youth.

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Black History Tribute: Pride Entrepreneur Education Program

Each day this week, I'm spotlighting a Charlotte-area person or organization that is making black history.

The Pride Entrepreneur Education Program (PEEP) has been helping prepare African-American youth in Charlotte to become future leaders since it was founded in 2007 by Dee Dixon, owner of Pride Communications. The nonprofit organization has a Career Mentoring Program, in which it pairs high school students with mentors who are successful in the career fields they're interested in. Mentors serve as career advisors for six to 12 months. PEEP also offers a scholarship program, and for the 2010-11 school year it awarded full scholarships to two students to attend Central Piedmont Community College, and it awarded $2,500 scholarships to seven students who are attending various four-year universities.

Last Thursday, I had the privilege of attending the annual PEEP Luncheon the organization held at The Blake Hotel. I was invited to be one of the professionals who would attend and be seated at a table with high school students. I'm so happy I accepted the invitation. The organizers viewed it as us professionals "donating our time" to attend the two-hour program, but I feel that the experience was just as rewarding for me as it was for the students.

Attendees at the 2011 PEEP Luncheon.

There were about 300 Charlotte-Mecklenburg High School students and about 75 or more professionals in attendance, spread across dozens of banquet tables. Seated at my table were five students from Olympic High School and two other professionals--Damian Johnson, co-owner of the No Grease barbershop franchise, and Ashley Jeffers, who works for Vanguard, an investment management company. While we ate a delicious lunch, we had the chance to converse with the students. They asked great questions about our career fields and I was just as interested in learning more about each of them, whom were all seniors.

There was also a four-person panel who spoke to the audience about finding success and achieving goals. Three of the panelists were business owners and the fourth was an executive at Walmart. Each of them shared stories of how they worked hard to get where they are, and also how they took advantage of opportunities that came their way. The students were able to ask the panel questions as well.

This event and the other programs PEEP offers is an important community service and is helping our most valuable asset: our youth. To learn more about PEEP, whether it's to sign up to be a mentor, make a financial contribution, or inquire about a scholarship, visit www.peepcharlotte.org.

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Get Involved Charlotte: Urban League and Big Brothers Big Sisters

Here are two opportunities for you to get involved with organizations that are working to create brighter futures for our youth.

The Urban League of Central Carolinas needs tutors for math, reading, and social studies for grade levels 6-12. Tutor/volunteer orientation will be held this Friday, August 6, 8:30 a.m. at the Urban League's office in Uptown, 740 W. Fifth St. They can work around your schedule if you're willing to give some of your time to help youth improve in their academics. For more information, email Shannon McKnight at smcknight@urbanleaguecc.org or call Roderic Garner at 704-373-2256 ext. 206.

Then on September 1, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Charlotte is teaming with Guardian ad Litem to recruit mentors and child advocates. The recruiting event will be held 5-8 p.m. at Buckhead Saloon, 201 E. Fifth St., and will feature live music and complimentary food and drinks. Plus, if you sign up to be a mentor or child advocate, or refer a friend, you'll be entered to win tickets to the Kings of Leon concert coming next month to Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Click here to RSVP for the September 1 recruiting event.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a well-known organization that has been doing great work for decades. My brother (actual brother) is a Big and has a Little whose 12 years old. The program is looking for Bigs of all kinds, but I know they are often especially in need of black males. Also, Guardian ad Litem is an organization I have dealings with through my work with group home kids. GAL does great work to assist kids one on one who are going through a tough time in the system comprised of family court, social services, counselors, etc.

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