Reposting - How do you contribute?

So much talk about how today's youth are so different from today's adults, yet, not many decide to make an investment into the lives of these youth whether it be through volunteering at local organizations that support them, donating time, space or money, opening the doors to their business so youth can intern or even their home so that they have a safe haven to help improve their way of life. How about the ultimate sacrifice of dedicating their everyday hustle from sun up to sun down to foster a healthier community by developing a healthier child?

Well, founder and president of D3 Community Outreach, Incorporated, Malcom Reed, has made his decision to make the ultimate sacrifice. From dawn to dawn he works with at-risk youth in the Durham, NC community molding them, investing in them, providing to them the support that so many mention that they need.

The department of juvenile justice indicates that issues associated with at-risk youth include:

"youth crime, violence, sex, substance abuse, poor academic performance, etc. " They do not fail to mention that research shows that at-risk youth struggle with complex issues and scenarios that are brought on by peers, mentors, family members, and difficult social environments."

So, with all of these "issues" faced by so many youth in the community one would think that there are a plethora of free governmental, non-profit and other organizations that are working to mitigate or eliminate the majority of these issues. But, as we look around, as we read and even text we know that the doors of these organizations are not open and are not being held open by youth eager to take part in their programs. I am sure there are various reasons why but I will try to keep this posting short.

If the majority of "at-risk" youth are from low socio-economic backgrounds, if they have nothing positive that interests them and they feel is worth getting into, if all they know about sex is what they learned on "the playground," if they do not get the help they need in school becuase the 30 other children in the classroom are in their same position what do we do?

Let me ask you: what have you chosen to do??

Well, if your in Durham, NC you have heard of Malcom Reed and his movement to make a change in the lives of these kids through a variety of FREE, I repeat FREE, programs that produce results. Visit www.d3communityoutreach.org for more information on these programs.

It is not enough to solely talk about the issues that youth face. It is more important that we invest in programs such as D3 Community Outreach that build relationships with youth so that students who have left high school can obtain their G.E.D, so that the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child" shows investment and commitment from mentors to youth being mentored, so that the same opportunities for development of life and leadership skills provided to those who can afford the after school and summer camps and who are chosen first for school clubs and trips is afforded to the "at-risk" youth in the community, and so that during the summer when the sun is high in the sky and employers are not hiring youth without the experience, transportation, "look of the company," etc., D3 is hosting their annual Hayti Basketball Summer League which ends with a 50-person Youth Empowerment and College Tour, that encourages youth to stay in school and take on responsibility for themselves.