It takes a community to build a village, and a village to build a community. Which is why we’re kicking off a series set out to highlight some of the key community programs that are helping keep Greenville great and solving local challenges along the way. (Speaking of – What local non-profits do you want to see “spotlighted?”)

Today, we’re shining the spotlight on the Center for Educational Equity and their boxing gym off of Pendleton St. in the Village of West Greenville. At 5:30 p.m., Monday – Thursday, you’ll see a flood of children running the street with boxing gloves strapped to their hands. The boxing club’s mission is to help kids ages 7 – 17 “change the path of their lives, in a positive way”, through academic and fitness after school programs.

Most of these students come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, and live right here in West Greenville. Their head coach, Shakir Robinson, also serves as program director. As a past professional boxer + military, he “works hard to instill discipline as well as the habits of hard work and focus through various boxing and fitness techniques.”

Through the structured and disciplined environment the CEE team has created a program that is yielding some serious results. (-> add emojis as bullets as you see fit.)
💯 CEE is seeing a 100% high school graduation rate for the children who participate in CEE year-round
🥇 Two of their boxers took home first place in their weight class during the 2016 National Silver Gloves Tournament (... at only 10 years old).
🥊 The team is even recognized as a member of USA Boxing, the national governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing.

The Center for Educational Equity is just one example of many amazing groups in Greenville making a positive impact on the community (you can learn more about them here). What community programs are you involved in or want to know more about? We’ll elevate the non-profit space together. 🙌

For more on CEE Greenville Boxing, ➡️ Greenville Journal