NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — June is National Safety Month and the Community Youth Athletic Center in National City is working to help kids stay safe.
Volunteers and coaches train at-risk youth, as part of the center’s boxing program.
“Our gym focuses on boxing. But the truth is, it's much more than that,” said Border Patrol agent Edgar Sandoval at a news conference Thursday.
Sandoval volunteers his time at the athletic center, training kids in boxing and teaching them lessons in life.
“Once they're here, they build a family or build relationships. We're able to integrate them with law enforcement and show the positive sides of policing.” said Sandoval.
Keeping kids safe means keeping them away from drugs, fentanyl in particular, according to San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan.
“This is the place that provides hope and counters the effect of isolation, mental health struggles, and then with kids seeking fentanyl that is ending them in hospitals and in the morgue,” said Stephan.
The boxing program has made a real difference in the lives of young adults like Angel Marquez, who started coming to the center at the age of nine.
“I started working out, lost weight. I feel better about myself. And then I started, as soon as I turned 18, they offered me a job to tutor the kids and help them out,” said Marquez.
Kids who started out in the program are now helping other newcomers.
“It’s really made me want to invest myself more in these kids because they do grow on you,” said Genovee Ramirez, a youth coordinator with the program.
“You want to see them grow up and be the best they can be and you see them for the potential they have. They are influenced by their friends at school or social media. So, I'm very happy to be here helping them out and I hope to be here for a long time,” Ramirez said.
The annual fundraiser for the Community Youth Athletic Center is the Battle of the Badges boxing event on Saturday, June 17. Members of law enforcement and the military have boxing matches in a ring set up onboard the USS Midway Museum. Tickets are available online.
WATCH RELATED: Boxing gym in City Heights brings kids into the ring to keep them out of trouble (Oct. 2022).