Richard Greene, III – Cincinnati Enquirer Opinion contributor
When I was younger, I never dreamed that I would be a leader. Now, after my Boys & Girls Club helped me develop my skills, I understand the power of leadership, especially in teenagers.
My name is Richard Greene III, and as a child, I fell victim to social anxiety. Many people ask me why I continuously go to the Boys & Girls Club, and my answer is always, “I go to the Club because they are like family to me.”
Upon arriving at the Club, I enjoy the laughter me and my peers share, and how close we have all gotten. Yet, that is not the only reason why I go to the Club. You see, I also go to the Boys & Girls Club because I am giving back the gifts that were put into me by working with other kids who need my support.
The Boys & Girls Club worked so hard to get me to open up and become a leader, and now I have become one of the best Keystone presidents Sheakley has ever produced. I take the knowledge, wisdom and experience invested into me and help create leaders who are able to tackle any situation given to them.
The Boys & Girls Club helped to connect me with people who can tell me about their careers. They have helped me realize that after college I would like to become a biochemist and become a forensic scientist. After I told them about my career aspirations, Club staff worked hard to connect me with people and opportunities related to my passions and future profession in order to ensure my future success.
Club staff are passionate about seeing children succeed. As I said during the local Youth of the Year competition, adults are not here to be the bad guy, or to limit our futures. They are here to help us expand our mindsets and use their wisdom to stop us from making the wrong decision. I understand there are times where it feels as if they are intruding, but we can’t kick them out of our lives and disregard everything that they are trying to teach us. We must take the lesson and search within ourselves to make the better decision. Furthermore, listen to the adults and elders around you because their wisdom is not based on fictional tales, but instead they, at one point in their lives, went through the same situation as us.
As we come to the end, there is one thing that I would like to get across: join the Boys & Girls Club, donate, or do whatever you can to support us. The Boys & Girls Club transforms Cincinnati’s youth into leaders and teaches us how great life can really be. That is why Club members like me and state legislators like Representative Bill Seitz are going to participate in the April 2021 Ohio Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs State Summit.
When I asked Rep. Seitz about our Clubs, he said: “Boys & Girls Clubs help families, communities, and Ohio’s economy by filling the gap between school and home. They provide a positive environment where children and teens participate in life-changing programs that prepare them for college and career success. I am proud to support the Boys & Girls Clubs, because of the beneficial impact these programs have on Cincinnati and the working families who rely on these afterschool programs as a means to be employed full-time.”
I want to thank readers for their continued support of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati and encourage you to check out our State Summit. You can visit bgcohio.org or contact the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati for more information: (513) 421-8909.
Richard Greene III lives in Westwood and is a senior at DePaul Cristo Rey High School. He is the 2021 Boys & Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati Youth of the Year Award winner.
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