Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
The Madison-based youth mentorship and dropout prevention program, Boyz to Kings (BTK) recently completed a classic “three-peat” when the organization was voted a “Best of Florida” for the third year in a row. This year, the organization faced some local competition in the Family Services category, with sister organization, Girlz to Queens, also in the mix.
Founded in 2009 by community leader and visionary Merv Mattair, the organization has grown to to the point where they can be found in 18 schools across Madison, Taylor, Leon and Hamilton Counties. They also serve as mentors internationally, with a program in Kigali, Rwanda, in the African continent. BTK is a Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Prevention organization that includes a team of 14 adults serving 145 youth, with that number continuously growing. “It started in my backyard mancave with only three youth and two parents,” recalls Mattair. “I was laughed at, not supported and treated as if, ‘Who are you to start something like this?’ I was told it would not work because parents are lazy and that I needed to charge the parents. I was ridiculed for serving the human race because certain people expected it to be a ‘black power movement.’ I kept my head down and my ears and mind up to and on God to hear from Him and I was guided through all that stuff.” The services for BTK continue to be free of charge to the parents.
For more information about BTK and Girlz to Queens, including how you can help, please visit www.boyztokings.com.