Courtesy photo

Courtesy photo

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OKEECHOBEE — Men of Distinction (MOD), an organization designed to teach boys to become men, recently celebrated its 15^th year in Okeechobee.

When the organization was begun by Tyrone Smith, it was for football players at Okeechobee High School only. During the annual summer football camp, the teens were mentored by Smith and participated in community service projects around Okeechobee.

MOD is a 501c3 that mentors young men 14-19 years old and engages in community service by mowing and cleaning yards for the elderly and disabled.

“We have cleaned yards. We have helped churches clean out buildings.  We do this for whoever we find out needs help. One year we did like eight yards after a hurricane. So just wherever we can find the need,” said Coach Jeff Whitlock, who serves as the Executive Director of Men of Distinction’s Community Engagement Work Crew.

This year, the teens asked Whitlock if they could continue doing service projects throughout the school year, and he was more than happy to agree.

The crew has partnered with county code enforcement to find yards in need of volunteer work.

With this increase in workload comes additional cost, and this is where the community can help, said Whitlock. They have enough help and enough community need to split the crew into two teams. “Twenty-five boys trying to do something in one yard is gonna be like Whack-a-mole,” laughed Whitlock.

However, they will need more equipment to outfit both teams. The Children Services Council will help with some of the things the group needs, but they cannot fund any individual items costing more than $750. This funding can be used to cover things like weed eaters, leaf blowers, and safety gear for the teens. Whitlock would like to purchase a commercial-grade zero-turn lawn mower  and a dump trailer. He said they did not want to clean up the yard of an elderly woman and then leave all the yard debris on the side of the road for her to deal with.

Even as the MODCREW (Men of Distinction Community Recognition Engagement Work) expands its community service outreach, the core focus will continue to be the mentoring of the young men involved.

The MODCREW meets on Monday nights at Coots. They used to meet at Whitlock’s house, but as the group has grown, it needs a bigger venue, and with Coots closed on Monday night, it worked out perfectly for the crew. “Because our first meeting was 25 kids on my front porch. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I had like five fans and extension cords going everywhere trying to keep them cool,” Whitlock said.

MOD is not a religious organization, but they do use FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) materials, and then they translate it into what it means practically on the journey to be a good man. “We tell the young men they don’t have to follow us, but we use it as a basis for what it means to be a good man. And so, that’s our thing. We work on trying to help our young men understand how to be good men. We work very hard on breaking cycles. A lot of our boys over the years have come from single-parent households, either fathers or mothers. And that’s a cycle we hope to break. We work hard on that. Explaining to them the consequences of doing things where you may not get to be a present father.”

Whitlock explained they discuss the importance of civic engagement and being a good man in your own community.

“MOD's dream is to grow into a coalition of community partners that are willing to step up and help people in our community in need and support one another. If there's an elderly lady who has a busted water pipe, you don't take but a little bit of time to fix that. And if you have a successful business in our community, I feel any good man is obligated to help a little,” he said.

Whitlock would love to find men with like minds who are willing to partner with them. “We hope that the young men we are raising up will become those men down the road. We want them to love our community, so they come home.” He added that he graduated from Okeechobee High School in 1996. He was a football player. He went to college and played ball. Then he joined the Marine Corps for four years, following in the footsteps of his grandfathers. But when those days were over, he came home. “Almost all my friends that I played football with don't live here anymore. They didn't want to come back here. Yeah. And it breaks my heart. I want to see our young men to have a reason to stay. I want them to see the goodness in our community.”

MOD has some community sponsors and some men who help regularly. Garth Striebel and Joseph McDonalds are both exceptional men who help with the logistics of the program. One of their community sponsors even donated a vehicle.

“We would also like to thank Taylor Rental for their support. They allow us to use their equipment until we can get our own,” said Whitlock.

MODCREW will be having a barbecue fundraiser on November 20th with the grill manned by Kyle Reno. If you have ever eaten food cooked by Reno, you will want a ticket, said Whitlock.

Since the program’s inception, they have contributed more than 15,500 community service hours during their summer camps. This past summer, the young men donated more than 200 hours of their time to help those in need.

“That’s all I want. I just want Okeechobee to be the best community it can. Our boys can make a huge difference in this community.”

MOD is a 501c3 that mentors young men 14-19 years old and engages in community service by mowing and cleaning yards for the elderly and disabled. [Courtesy photo]

[Courtesy photo]

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