WR4F Brings Mission To Leadership Retreat For Boys

WASHINGTON - June 12, 2014 - PRLog -- The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington’s SHINE program welcomed hip hop artist and Will Rap 4 Food founder Pro’Verb to their third annual Lead, Don’t Follow teen leadership retreat on Saturday, June 7. Held at Catholic University, the retreat brought out about 40 boys ages 9-16 to discuss the future of hip hop leadership.

“The event was amazing! I couldn’t believe just how eager the kids were to learn,” said Pro’Verb after his session with the students.

The SHINE program is a long established, grant-funded teen pregnancy prevention initiative managed by Tim Weedon. Weedon says he noticed an overwhelming amount of young males receiving misinformation about puberty, manhood and relationships which sparked the idea of developing an overnight retreat focusing on issues faced by the boys. He also incorporated activities to promote the development of leadership skills, positive social traits and behavior skills.

“This was a small peak into what our world can become with this kind of mentorship. This is absolutely the reason why we do what we do. We not only lead, but we teach others to do the same," said Pro’Verb. “It fully embodied the Will Rap 4 Food mission, and I am blessed to have been a part of it. Thanks to Tim Weeden for allowing Will Rap 4 Food to be a part of this amazing workshop. I can't wait until the next one. They say we can't change the world; Saturday was a heck of a start!"

The first retreat took place in April of 2012 at Camp Brown followed by a second retreat in June, 2013 at the campus of Howard University attended by speakers such as Fonsworth Bentley.