A group of 17 young men spent the morning of Saturday, 20 Nov., giving back to the community.
The members of the 2021-22 Boyz2Men Cayman programme, with rakes and rubbish bags in hand, cleaned up the Palm Dale Community Park in George Town.
“People will see how hard I work today, and they can probably hire me to do a job like this in the future,” said Boyz2Men volunteer Mark Phillips, 16, during the clean-up exercise.
The project, organised by Boyz2Men in partnership with the Optimist Club, was the first community outreach since the start of the new cohort of young men in September 2021.
Christopher Murray, John Gray High School counsellor and the founder of Boyz2Men, told the Cayman Compass that the clean-up was the first phase of work to spruce up the park.
“They’re supposed to do some painting, but we had to divide it,” he said. “So, today they’re doing the cleaning of the grounds and then next time they’ll come and paint the facilities as well.”
Phillips, who is described by Boyz2Men coordinator Simon Miller as “someone who wants to make a difference”, said that he doesn’t want the public to view him in a negative light.
“I’d be home doing nothing and that leads me to trouble sometimes, or doing things I shouldn’t, so this was a good opportunity to get out of the house and help someone,” Phillips told the Compass. “They aren’t paying us but we’re doing it because we want to help, and it will create a good look for myself.”
The programme, which has been administered through John Gray for the past 11 years, is focussed on directing at-risk young men to more positive paths before they graduate.
Murray said that, among the many things the boys learn through the programme, developing teamwork is a key tool for life.
“Projects like this keep them together and working as a team… reflects the word community,” Murray said. “They can develop a sense of camaraderie and a sense of partnership [and] I think it gives them a solid sense of meaning and purpose.”
Phase two of the clean-up will take place in the coming weeks, he added.
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