Officer Clayton Turner, Coach William “Woody” Woodruff, Fred Jones, Leonard Draper Sr.
Congratulations to our 2019 Citizen Mentor Honorees. Each year, the Tarik Black Foundation presents four awards to citizens who inspire, encourage, and support youth. This year’s recipients were honored during the closing luncheon for SPORTS CAREERS interns. The awards are named after the inaugural recipients. This year’s honorees are Officer Clayton Turner – Sgt. Byron Johnson Neighborhood Officer Role Model Award Coach William “Woody” Woodruff – Wesley Henning Northern Star Award Fred Jones – Willie Gregory Touchstone Award Leonard Draper Sr. – Leonard Draper Jr. Guiding Hand Award.
The Citizen Mentor Awards were created to recognize and encourage individuals to take the time to mentor and support youth. The four men for which the awards are named were men that mentored Tarik as he was growing up. “Sgt. Johnson, Coach Henning, Mr. Draper, and Mr. Gregory offered me guidance and wisdom. I owe a lot to these men for helping to shape my values, encouraging me to grow in character, and pushing me to work hard – never give up,” said Tarik. “This year’s honorees share the same qualities and we are pleased to acknowledge how much they have contributed to the community and the hundreds — if not thousands — of young lives they’ve positively touched and continue to touch.”
TRANSFORMATION50 Basketball and Life Skills Camp will be held at the North Frayser Community Center 2555 St. Elmo Ave. Campers registering for this year should be aware of this change from the previous location, Gaisman Community Center. New activities added to this year’s program will be better accommodated at the North Frayser location. “We’ve decided to conclude this year’s camp with a combination basketball and life skills tournament,” says Susan Black TRANSFORMATION50 Basketball and Life Skills Camp Director. Black says the North Frayser Community Center’s facility will allow campers more space for TRANSFORMATION50 Life Sessions as well as more bleachers for seating family and friends at the closing day tournament. In the past, the tournament has been only for basketball and was held during the camp day. This year, to better highlight life skills lessons learned, the camp staff have decided to hold an evening tournament featuring more activities and fanfare. “This will be a lot more fun since family and friends will be able to watch the young men play basketball and then watch them demonstrate the life skills they learned while at camp.”
The foundation also saw the opportunity to move to Frayser as a way of hosting an uplifting event in a community that is still struggling to come to terms with tragedy and loss.”We thought about the positive attention we could offer the Frayser community, especially now by relocating the camp to North Frayser Community Center,” said President of the Tarik Black Foundation Judith Moore. “We plan to offer the center first opportunity to fill the remaining spots with campers from the Frayser Community and hope that youth will sign-up.”
Campers who were notified to register for this year’s TRANSFORMATION50 Basketball and Life Skills Camps are required to register on July 6, 10 am-noon. Registration will be held at the North Frayser Community Center.
For more information about TRANSFORMATION50 registration or camp program please send inquiry to info@tarikblackfoundation.org.
Summer GLAM (Girls’ Life Academy Memphis) is a camp for 25 girls that’s actually a summer job made possible through our business partnership with the City of Memphis.
The City of Memphis’ Summer Youth MPloy program employs the girls selected for Summer GLAM. The TBF then sponsors and provides the camp site and curriculum which is made up of GLAM Sessions where organizations and professionals share information that prepare campers for making smart life decisions. GLAM Sessions have included interactive workshops on obtaining utility services, preparing a healthy meal, buying a car, understanding an apartment lease, building a professional wardrobe, public speaking, and budget planning. These are just some of the activities provided during the Summer GLAM camp. The camp is six weeks and runs in conjunction with the Mploy program summer employment schedule. To be considered for Summer GLAM, girls 16- 19 must apply for the City of Memphis’ Summer Youth Mploy program (Contact City of Memphis to apply for the Summer Youth Mploy program). During the Summer Youth Mploy job fair in the spring, interested girls can apply specifically for Summer GLAM. Only applicants selected by the City of Memphis’ Mploy program for Summer GLAM can participate.
We tell athletes they need an alternative career in mind as they pursue their dream to play sports professionally. While young men who love sports but are not athletically inclined most often think they have no future in this industry. To offer ideas for alternatives to actually playing a sport, Tarik Black Foundation (TBF) this summer will introduce a paid internship designed to offer ideas for “Plan B” sports-related careers.
The internship is for 15 male teens who have signed up for employment with the City of Memphis’ summer youth employment program, MPLOY. Interns will be assigned to the Plan B internship program by officials in the Youth Services Division during their annual job fair for MPLOY participants.
“We hope every young man who wants to be a professional athlete or pursue another “dream” job gets that chance, but we want them to have a second choice in mind – one that they can be equally as excited to pursue,” explains Tarik Black, foundation founder.
As a pro athlete, Tarik interfaces with many professionals that support him personally and in addition, there are hundreds of services and products that support the industry as a whole. This includes technical, medical, scientific, communications, and business professionals as well as skilled laborers who keep this industry going. Plan B interns will get to learn about some of these jobs through mentoring sessions and exploratory field trips.
In addition, interns will participate in various character education and life skills activities which is always an essential component of programs provided by TBF. The paid internship is six weeks, June 3 – July 11, 2019.
Male teens who applied in December 2018 and have been hired for the 2019 MPLOY Experience may express an interest in being considered for the Plan B Internship during the spring MPLOY job fair.
The Tarik Black Foundation is now accepting applications for this summer’s TRANSFORMATION50 basketball and life skills camp. This year’s camp will be held at Gaisman Community Center. The camp runs July 15 – 19, 8:30 am – 4:00 pm. The camp, which is hosted by Tarik Black, is for boys ages 11 – 15 years old. Boys do not have to be a member of a basketball team to attend. There will be ten boys selected for each age group. Boys selected will be notified by June 1, 2019.
For more information about TRANSFORMATION50 basketball and life skills camp CLICK HERE. To apply please complete and submit the TRANSFORMATION50 application by May 15, 2019.
Foundation to conduct an awareness campaign through the end of the year.
Memphis—Nov. 9 The Tarik Black Foundation looks forward to participating in 2018 Giving Tuesday Campaign. Giving Tuesday is a global giving movement that encourages the public to contribute to charities they wish to support on this day.
In the days leading up to the campaign, the foundation will conduct a social media awareness campaign to help the public understand the foundation’s mission and vision for the future.
“We are using this month leading up to Giving Tuesday to inform people about who we are and our mission of providing programs for youth that build character, instill values and teach life skills,” said Judith Moore, President.
Moore says that this campaign is as much about getting people acquainted with the organization as it is about raising funds.
As the TBF enters its third year, foundation leaders feel it’s time to focus on publicizing their cause and vision. “The first two years we were more focused on establishing our programs, seating board and creating the infrastructure needed to support our work,” said Moore. “With two camps up and running and having hosted many activities in Memphis, Houston, and Los Angeles, we are ready to more actively seek public support.
The foundation’s campaign will kick-off with a message from Tarik Black, CEO, and Founder of TBF. He will post his message from Israel where he is currently playing for Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv basketball team. Board members and staff will then help spread the word via their posts the remainder of the month.
Moore says this campaign will continue after Giving Tuesday until the end of the year. Giving Tuesday is an annual event with global reach.
