TITLE
Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $10,000, offset by $10,000 in First Council District One-time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide a contribution to Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) to support their youth sports and mentoring program, Books and Buckets; and
Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $10,000 to offset the transfers to the City Manager Department.
DISCUSSION
Long Beach has made concerted efforts to invest in its youth. The discussion around a Youth Fund, the release of the Youth and Young Adult Strategic Plan, the continued work of the Office of Youth Development, and the renewed emphasis to increase youth programming designed to interrupt the cycle of violence and trauma within our community are some of the city-led initiatives. However, community-based organizations continue to be the backbone of how our youth interact with the City.
As the City works to implement plans for our youth, local Washington Neighborhood resident, David McGill-Soriano, was inspired by his own past experiences with youth basketball to create a local program called Books and Buckets Academy. He describes how his life was positively changed when he discovered a basketball program but how difficult it was to have to take public transportation several hours to and from the program to participate. Understanding that programs like the one he participated in could change his neighborhood, he turned his idea into reality.
Books and Buckets Academy blends basketball training with academic training. The goal is simple: give local youth a choice. Mentoring, academic assistance, and physical exercise combine to be a potent combination regarding crime prevention, violence prevention, and providing alternatives to gang activity within our youth.
As Books and Buckets Academy closes its inaugural p...
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