Shreveport Youth Boxing Club

I believe this youth program is worthy of your support. Our boxing program has been a part of the community for the past 22 years. 

My involvement with the youth boxing program dates back approximately 22 years when it began as Paxton's Youth Boxing Program. Along with Ray Paxton, owner of Paxton's Youth Boxing Club, and Coach Donny Jackson, we created a program to help inner city kids redirect their focus. Through the years, as the board president, I raised money to keep the program funded. I helped recruit kids in need of guidance as well as help inspire them to be their very best. I have used my resources to promote the program in magazines, newspapers, and through boxing invitationals. When Ray Paxton passed away in 2015, the gym (Paxton's Youth Boxing Club) was inherited by a family member and the separate program (Paxton's Youth Boxing Program), was gone.  Instead of allowing the youth boxing program to dissolve, I decided to find a new location and building to serve these kids. Countless hours and weekends were spent cleaning, painting, and supplying the building so that the kids already in the program would continue to have a place to practice. In December 2015, we became a new 501(c)(3) organization and changed our name to Shreveport Youth Boxing Club. Shreveport Youth Boxing Club hosted its first boxing invitational on August 6, 2016, in which I worked as the announcer. I helped set up, clean up, and pay vendors after the event. Shreveport Youth Boxing Club is a passion I share with the coaches, kids, and community. I continue to visit and join practice weekly. We earned front-page coverage in Shreveport Magazine (Fall 2016 edition). I encourage my office staff to participate in events and stop by the gym, all of whom enthusiastically do so. Fundraising for this program is my top priority as we need it to keep the doors open. We are one small organization where every slight effort makes a difference with each child that walks through our doors.  

Shreveport Youth Boxing Club is more about building young adults than it is about boxing. Coach Donny Jackson and his volunteer staff teach discipline, self-respect, and how to always do the right thing. Over the past nine years I have had the opportunity to talk with some former students on what the program meant to them in their younger years. It was shared with me by one man, "If it had not been for Shreveport Youth Boxing Club reaching out to him in the community and providing him a safe place to go each day, he would have probably made some wrong choices in his life, preventing him from becoming the successful business owner he is today." I have been told several stories just like this one in regards to the impact Shreveport Youth Boxing Club has made on the lives of many individuals.

Thank you for your time and consideration. If there is any way I can serve you further, please call me at (318) 424-1116.

With kindest personal regards, I remain,
Very truly yours,

Tim C. FitzGerald

Testimonials

August 23, 2016

Testimonial from the coach Donny Jackson:

We have a boxer named Terrance, he's 22 years old. Terrance came to us wanting to learn how to box, it's something he always wanted to do since he was a kid. Terrance would practice very hard almost every day, but he wasn't catching on like some of the others. After working with him for a couple months, I knew his chances of becoming a good amateur boxer was very slim. I had a talk with his dad a few days later, whom told me at that time Terrance was mildly mentally challenged and had been in Special Education all of his life. This explained why we had to go over most tasks several times before he would catch on. Since, finding this out about Terrance, I've added steps to assist him with learning. I notice in practice Terrance begin to show confidence within himself and started trusted being coached a little more. Terrance has competed in about eight boxing events and the Louisiana State Golden Gloves this year. Unfortunately, he didn't win a single match. 

One day during practice Terrance made his mind up to just do whatever was asked of him because he no longer wanted to just compete, he wanted to win a trophy. Terrance was able to focus long enough to win two of his last four matches, which has given him lots of hope for the future. Terrance has become a local favorite to all that knows his personal story.

I'm more appreciative of having the opportunity to coach Terrance, because it's definitely taught me to be patient.

Donny