Giovanni & Tim's YMC Story

"Only the guidance from a mentor could make a fifty pound weight lost goal turn into a result of losing one hundred and twenty pounds in just a two year period. The gratitude that I have for my mentor Tim Windgard continues to exceed new heights as I continue to relies how much he has truly change my life. This Malibu local saw me, a twelve year old, two hundred and eighty pound African American male growing up in south central that had no academic motivation for education, no self-esteem because of obesity. This individual had no desire to be different than the troubling drop out students, gang bangers and poor role models that were all to familiar. My mentor Tim saw this young individual and told himself that he needs to contact Youth Mentoring Connection so he can invest time into this young man’s life because he’s going to be successful some day.

Some might say such events as losing as much as one hundred and twenty pounds, becoming a great African American surfer and turning my whole general perspective on school around is much to have accomplished before and during high school. I say it’s just the beginning. The beginning of a developing mentality to not just be the best, but set the bar with my own personal best. A personal, persistent mentality in hunger of new opportunities to challenge myself and improve. This mentality continues to develop because I still haven’t reached the pinnacles I plan to reach. This lead me to be on the search for the door to the new opportunity that will mold me into a better, brighter and more persistent young scholar.

In Youth Mentoring Connection giving me a mentor or what I see him as, the father figure I never had, he paved the we for today and myself successfully finishing my freshmen year of college with a 3.3 GPA. I plan to continue my education at Loyola Marymount University and majoring in business administration, political science, and minoring in environmental justice. I will continue doing various internships and jobs that are guided toward my major during undergraduate. Following that, I plan to continue my education in graduate school at Stanford University and at the same time start generating profit for the company I am in the process of starting with a Stanford Graduate Chemist and few students from UCLA. We are developing a water conservation company that will innovate the waste management industry. After that, I will run for Speaker of the Assembly for the State of California. Then I will run for Governor of California. Following that I will run for President of the United States. After that I plan on opening up a non-profit that reflects the same core values as Youth Mentoring Connection. I want to continue YMC’s mission to help connect more individuals to invest their valuable time into young inner city kids most say will be nothing in life. Similar to what most people said about me at a first glance. YMC connected me with my mentor and proved the nay sayers wrong. I want to help save lives just as YMC did with mine.

In the summer of 2011 the Metlife Foundation and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging(N4A) flew my mentor Tim and I out to Washington, DC for a Older Volunteers Enrich America Awards reception were Tim’s received a national honor. He received the Silver Honor for the national Mentoring Award. Part of the event article reads, “Tim Wingard, 69, has been a volunteer at the Youth Mentoring Connection (YMC) for seven years.YMC awakens at-risk youth to their power, unique gifts and purpose by matching them with caring adult mentors. Tim, who still surfs, volunteers his time for the surf program and brought his mentee, Giovanni (Gio), surfing on weekends. At 13, Gio weighed 285 pounds and was struggling in most areas of his life in South Central L.A. Tim taught Gio how to eat healthfully, to surf and to be a proud, responsible man. As a result of Tim’s mentoring, Gio lost 120 pounds. Gio is now president of his high school’s debate team, an honor student, surfer and basketball player who has been accepted to several universities. Tim and Gio remain extremely close five years after first meeting.” Youth Mentoring Connection first changes lives of the mentee, then changes lives through the relationship with the mentor and the end result is that YMC enriches both lives."

Looking back moving forward mentors and mentees were able to plan for their futures together... Knowing that we (mentor & mentee) both have hurt and helped others, we make the conscious decision to wash away our sins and wash in our blessings together!

From Thugs To Hugs

Manny was too hard core for someone so young. He was 12 years old, full of anger, flashing gang signs and defiant to all of our staff, especially Free Harris.  As a Latino male, Manny had been trained by his ‘hood’ to hate black people like Free. But Free didn’t see a rage-filled thug that others described (despite the fact that Manny called him a racial slur the first time they met).  Instead Free saw a young man, alive with the fire of youth who had never been given a chance, until he came to YMC.  Free kept showing up consistently, with love, to deliver the message “You have gifts to offer this world.”  “You were born with a purpose and together it’s our job to discover it.”  At YMC Manny was able to explore and understand the wounds that made him retreat behind the gangster image.  Eventually the real Manny began to emerge: a gentle, peaceful soul that found healing in our community.  One day in a group of young men Manny told the story of how this loving black man transformed his heart.  Then Manny got up, walked across the room and embraced Free with a deep, soulful hug.  It became Manny’s trademark.  He had a knack for sensing the perfect moment to step in and offer an embrace to another young man ready to make the same move towards life that Manny had made. Manny made the move from thugs to hugs.

The final tactic in our master plan was to give Manny one of the coolest mentors ever - radio and TV personality Chuey Martinez, who has been described as “the Latino Ryan Seacrest” and “the next big thing to hit Hollywood”.  Chuey approaches mentoring like he does everything else - he shows up big every time.  It’s a great relationship.  Manny lights up when he sees Chuey and they always greet each other with a big hug.  Yep, turns out they are both huggers.

Last night Manny showed up in my office to thank me for all he has received from YMC and for the person he has become.  He spoke with pride about his improving grades.  I could see a man emerging from the former gang member. When we first met him, Manny told us he was going to drop out.  Now, Manny is going to graduate, like 96% of our mentees.  Then he thanked me for teaching him to be a peacemaker.  He said he visited one of his ex-rival’s homes, submitted to a “pat-down” and, negotiated a peace agreement that ended in his bitter rival embracing him.  They had crossed over, from thugs to hugs. 

Just as Manny finished telling his story, Chuey showed up, almost on cue, and you can guess how they greeted each other!

So you can see why I shed a tear when Manny and Chuey left my office.  But what you can’t see is my heart breaking, because the program that Manny relied on for three years will shut down -- unless we can raise $160,000 in December and January.  Almost 160 mentees and mentors will be without the structure of YMC’s Odyssey and Hero’s Journey programs. 

 

Please give Manny back the program that changed his life and give others the same opportunity.  Anything you can do will help. 

Can you also identify just 5 friends and personally ask them to help us raise these funds?  Be a real and critical part of turning around and saving lives.  If we can raise these funds over the next couple of weeks, you will give troubled youths the greatest Christmas present  they could ever want – their lives.

Peace and blessings,

Tony LoRe

Founder, Youth Mentoring Connection

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