Urban League of West Michigan Uses Hoops for Hope

GRAND RAPIDS (May 15, 2023) – The Urban League of West Michigan (Grand Rapids, MI) is hoping to bring hope to youth this summer.

With the news that two elementary school students brought guns to school, one which is loaded, the Urban League is determined to help the community.

Derrick “Coach O” Owens, Director for the Center of Education Innovation and Youth Development at the Urban League, was beyond distressed at the news.

“Disappointing. Adults are not doing their job. Simply put,” he said.

But the Urban League is fighting back.

The Martin Luther King Park summer basketball league is a place that the Urban League, along with other neighborhood organizations, is determined to keep safe for kids.

Zachary Harris, Operations Manager for the league, said, “The basketball is just a tool to get the kids into the park. The tool is really the mind, the parenting, and the things that we’re going to be teaching after the basketball is done.”

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