It can be hard for a child to grow up without a father, especially for boys who don't have that person in their lives to show them how to do things like shave, tie a tie, treat women with respect or to just be around as someone to ask for advice. It is wildly important for young men to have male role models in their lives, and one school in Dallas wanted to make sure that they did.
Billy Earl Dade Middle School in Dallas, Texas decided they were going to host a "Breakfast with Dads," the only problem was that a lot of their students didn't have fathers in the home to be able to bring to breakfast. All told, the school was short about 50 "fathers."
Roughly 90 per cent of the school's population come from low-income families that live below the poverty line, so the school did what anyone would do in their position, they took to social media asking for 50 volunteers to come through so they could make this breakfast happen.
The school was terrified that they wouldn't get enough volunteers, forcing some kids to figure it out for themselves, what they weren't expecting though, was that they would end up with 600 men who would come in and volunteer to mentor these boys.
What happened bordered on magical.
Reverend Donald Parish Jr. of the True Lee Missionary Baptist Church was responsible for organizing the event, and he was just hoping that they would garner some interest from the community, because these boys needed it. "When a young person sees someone other than their teacher take interest in them, it inspires them," he said. "That's what we want to see happen."
Many students stood in awe at the number of men who came out to mentor them. It was likely an outpouring of support that they were not accustomed to seeing throughout their young lives. Hopefully this experience will make a positive impact in the lives of these young men.
The world needs more men like this.